


Spinning on That Dizzy Edge

by profdreamer



Series: Just Like Heaven [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Alcohol, Domestic Fluff, Drunken Flirting, Engagement, F/M, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Juniper/Fennel is a thing, Marriage, Nervousness, Nightmares, Partying, Skinny Dipping, Slice of Life, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Night, Wedding Planning, With accompanying comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-23 13:52:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 40,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10720608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/profdreamer/pseuds/profdreamer
Summary: The saga of two dorky professors in love continues.





	1. Time Stands Still

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read [Just Like Heaven](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10447653/chapters/23063208), please stop and do that first! This fic will continue directly from where it left off!
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy!

_A year later, Burnet disembarked her flight with the same sore back and kink in her neck._

_The terminal was filled with the same excited vacation crowd, the air was still fresh and salty, and the same old suitcase rolled behind her as she rushed through the familiar gate, swiveling her head to look for…_

_…her colleague in science, her best friend, her crush, her love, came sprinting out of nowhere to scoop her up and spin her in dizzying circles…_

_…before putting her down and dropping to a knee to nervously offer her a ring._

 

* * *

 

The bustle and sounds of the airport crowd dully roared and faded into a white fuzz in Burnet’s ears.

All she could focus on was a pair of intense brown eyes, and the beautiful ring in her boyfriend’s hand.

Time seemed to stand still.

“Umm…” she vaguely registered that Kukui was speaking. “Yeah, I…got you the one you really liked that one time. Only I had it specially made in white gold because I know you like silvery jewelry, yeah?”

She blinked.

Kukui was still gazing up at her, still on one knee, and the expression on his face was slowly starting to melt from anxiety to panic.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I should’ve made sure you were okay with this or…done it somewhere more romantic or private? I’m so sorry, Burnet. This shoulda been better…”

And suddenly, time sped back up, and the noise of the terminal jolted back to a normal volume.

Burnet felt a streak of something wet and hot trace its way down her cheek.

She choked out a small sob.

“offuckingcourseiwill.”

“Huh?”

“Yes.”

Before she could blink, Kukui gently scooped her up again.

…she could dimly sense Kukui’s arms around her, his face pressed into her neck, and the roar of the airport as the entire terminal erupted in cheers. 

 

* * *

 

 “I…I’m really sorry I froze. I must have scared you.” Burnet laughed softly as she dragged along the two extra suitcases she’d picked up at the baggage claim (Kukui had insisted on at least taking the carry-on for her).

“Aww, no no no, don’t apologize for that. I’m the one who sprung a huge shock on you.”

“I don’t think this has hit me yet.”

“Me either.”

“I…I don’t think I’ve realized I’m not leaving in a week. I don’t think I’ve realized we just got…heh.”

Burnet glanced at Kukui for the first time since they had exited the airport.

He still looked nervous.

“You…you really meant yes, right?” he asked quietly, putting his hand in his pocket as he pulled her suitcase and walked alongside her.

“Umm…this sounds way worse than I mean it to. I promise. Don't panic. But let’s go talk somewhere before we get on the boat. Somewhere private?”

Kukui swallowed.

They wandered along an oceanside path and ended up on a secluded wooden bench overlooking a bay near the Heahea port.  A grove of thick bushes and flowers hid them in the small nook, leaving them accompanied by only the sound and smell of the ocean. 

Burnet kicked her feet as Kukui stared out at the sea, tapping his foot nervously.

“Usually ‘we need to talk’ is my line,” he said after a few moments of awkward silence.

Despite herself, Burnet laughed.

“Reeeevenge! But seriously, like I said, it's nothing to worry about. I just…”

She kicked a small pebble and watched it bounce down a sandy embankment to the beach below.

“I’m just really scared. It’s like when we started dating. I can’t handle big emotions. I tend to freeze or avoid them. That’s all I wanted to...say? Remind you?” 

“Yeah, I know. It’s just how you react to things. But I still wanna make sure…”

Kukui leaned in and tucked a lock of pale hair behind Burnet's ear.

She shivered at his touch.

“…are you ready? I know we’ve talked about...this a little, but I mean…are you sure? It’s okay if you need time..."

"I'm ready."

“Oh...okay! And while I’m still holding on to the ring...If you wanted me to do it again with a tad more privacy…”

“What? No! I like how it happened. The airport was a really special place to ask.”

She smiled down at her hands.

“We have a lot of memories there.”

Kukui finally let go of the breath he had been holding. His shoulders slumped in relief.

“That’s what I was hoping,” he laughed softly.

Burnet nudged him with her shoulder and gave him a small grin.

“You did a great job.”

He nervously returned the grin.

"But..."

She took a deep breath and stood up.

She dropped to a knee in front of the bench.

Kukui squeaked. 

"It's hardly fair that you have to be the only one in the hot seat."

She took his hand.

"I don't have a ring yet. I'll give you one at our...when we...but..."

She gave him a wide, nervous smile.

"...will you marry me?" 

Kukui stared into her wide green eyes. 

"You are the most amazing person I've ever met," he laughed after a long silence. "Yeah! I mean, yeah, I'll marry you! Duh! That was so cute! Aww!" 

Burnet started laughing. 

"There. Now we're even," she said, hopping back onto the bench, grinning from ear to ear.

The tense and awkward atmosphere finally lifted.  

“O-okay. Umm…now that all this is settled, are you relaxed enough for…okay, I’ll just spill it. Can I kiss you a little? I really wanna kiss you.”

Burnet inched towards Kukui.

“Why do you think I REALLY wanted to talk in private?”

Kukui inched towards Burnet.

“I missed ya so much.”

“I missed you too.”

She turned towards him with a shy smile and draped her legs over his lap.

He gently rubbed her back and pulled her flush against him.

She leaned in and pecked softly at his lips.

His hands slid into her hair and she melted against his warm chest.

“Kukui…” she sighed against his lips.

He hummed happily as they slowly rediscovered each other and murmured between small kisses.

“Missed how soft you are.”

“Missed how good you smell.”

“Missed hearing your voice in person.”

“Missed the way your beard scratches my cheek.”

“Missed-“

“P-Professor?”

Burnet and Kukui jumped a mile and frantically dove away from each other, their limbs entangling and flailing in a panic.

Burnet whipped her head around to see three young teenagers on the path, all gaping like they’d just seen a wailord eat a skitty.

Kukui silently waved at them sheepishly as Burnet’s face turned a spectacular shade of red.

“Umm…” one of the two girls started. “We…we’re sorry, we completed the Akala trials a day early and we were on our way to our Grand Trial and…”

“…we thought we’d update you on our progress and get some advice, so we came back here to give you a call and…then we sort of found you?” the second girl, who was shorter with blue hair, finished.

“Ugh. This place is hardly secluded enough for...THAT,” the third teen (a taller boy) tisked, looking away uncomfortably.

“No, Kiawe, it’s extremely private over here! We’re the ones who interrupted a tender moment!” the blue haired girl objected.

The two of them started arguing as the taller girl sighed and shook her head.

“There they go again,” she groaned. “But no, we’re really sorry, Professor.”

“Make that ProfessorS. With an s! This here’s Professor Burnet, My gir-I mean, fiancé!” Kukui said, finally starting to recover. “She just moved to Alola to take over the Dimensional Lab down the road! She's gonna be studying alolan legends and leading all sorts of rad experiments! She's really stoked for it!” 

He leaned against the bench and awkwardly grinned at the trial goers as he threw his arm over a mortified Burnet’s shoulder. “I think she deserves half of your apology, yeah?”

The tall girl nodded hard and shoved herself between her two friends, whose argument had devolved into lightly slapping at each other's hands.

“We’re sorry, Professor. It’s very nice to meet you,” she said, nudging her friends and glaring a little until they each added a grumbled apology.

“It's fine,” Burnet said, grinning a huge uncomfortable smile.

“Yeah, don’t worry. It was a freak accident! You had better odds of landing an Inferno on us!” Kukui laughed.

He swept an arm at the three teenagers.

“Burnet, this motley crew is Mallow, Kiawe, and Lana. As you’ve prolly guessed, they’re on their island challenge!” he said with a flourish.

She shot them a slightly awkward finger gun and wink. 

Mallow and Lana returned the gesture in perfect sync. 

“Uhh, yes, in any case…we seek your guidance before we challenge Kahuna Olivia,” Kiawe said, still side eyeing the two professors as if they were going to start making out again at any moment.

“Ahh, okay! Can you give me a sec to help these guys out, honey? Then we can find something nice to eat and head home.”

He leaned in and gave Burnet a loving but chaste kiss on the cheek with a loud “MWAH.”

Kiawe grimaced.

Lana sighed dreamily.

Mallow facepalmed.


	2. Waste Not...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which several spit takes are averted, and everyone enjoys a delicious meal.

“Aww, please?”

“Nooo, you don’t need to! I can afford it!” 

“Nothin’ to do with affording it. If you wanna wear it like that, it’s part of the package!”

Kukui pouted and shot Burnet a set of rockruff eyes. 

“Plllllleeeeeease, honey?” 

Burnet let the heavy silver chain soothingly cascade from hand to hand.

_“Ahhh. Stimmy.”_

“Yeah, I like this one. I’ll take it,” she said to the shopkeeper behind the counter, handing over the necklace. The suited woman smiled and bustled away to pack up the purchase in a fancy box. 

Burnet turned to smirk at her fiancé and raised an eyebrow. 

“Fine. But I’m still buying yours. And if you try to do something sweet and thoughtful like oh, I don't know...get me a second ring on the sly to surprise me at the ceremony? We’re gonna have words. Got it?” 

Kukui laughed and saluted. 

“Yes ma’am! I already decided what I want, and fortunately for you it’d ruin that hypothetical situation!”

He gave her a megawatt grin that outshone the gems in the display. 

“I wanna match you.”

“…aww!” 

Burnet grinned to herself a bit shyly and ducked her head to stare at the shimmery jewels in the counter.

_“We’re gonna have matching rings…”_

Her grin got bigger and goofier.

 

* * *

 

“…and that’s the hairdresser. I hear they’re really good, if you need one. And that there’s the herbalist, and that’s a decent store to get threads, and there’s another rock and gem shop…”

Burnet glanced at the shops and back at the shopping bag in her hand.

Kukui continued rattling off the stores to his fiancé as he meandered down the street. Burnet grew more and more twitchy until she finally paused mid stride and marched off the sidewalk towards a grassy patch between two boutiques.

“Okay, I changed my mind. I don’t wanna wait anymore. Get over here.”

She eagerly ripped into the colorful shopping bag and dug out a purple box as Kukui looked on in amusement. 

She turned to him, her brand new chain in hand. 

“Got what I needed. Ready for it.” 

Kukui grinned and pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. He held out his other palm.

Burnet handed over the chain with a small smile. 

Kukui carefully threaded the ring onto the chain and reached out to carefully deposit the empty box in her bag.

He held the necklace out to her, raising his eyebrows. 

She pulled her ponytail to hold it out of the way and shyly nodded.

He leaned in and gently draped his arms over her shoulders to attach the clasp behind her neck. 

The weight of the chain and ring settled around her neck and onto her chest as he pulled away. It was a bit heavy, but the weight was somewhat soothing. 

“There!” Kukui grinned at her. “Feel okay?” 

“Much better than it would’ve on my hand. And my neck is a much safer place for it.”

She glanced down and gently picked up the ring to stare at it.

The twists and curves in the silvery metal caught the late afternoon alolan light and sparkled in her hand. Images of her spacetime charts flashed through her head. 

_“Hmm! No wonder I like it. The pattern reminds me of Minkowski diagrams.”_

She stared at the ring, mesmerized. 

_“It’s so pretty. And…I’m engaged…to Kukui.”_

Her heart skipped a beat. She felt her mind snap back into her body, the feeling of the heavy ring in her hand, and the grass tickling her feet through the holes in her sandals, and the warm sunshine on her skin pulling her back to earth. 

“I love it.” she finally said.

Kukui, who had been patiently smiling at his dreamy fiancé, grinned happily. 

“It looks hecka nice on you, yeah!” 

Burnet blushed and grinned at the ground.

“Thanks for the pretty ring.” 

“Haha! Thanks for saying yes!”

They held hands and people watched for a while on a nearby bench.

 

* * *

 

“Hmm, everything looks great. Not sure what I’m getting yet.” 

“Pretty much anythin’ you get will be killer. Do it up!”

Burnet eagerly scanned the menu again while she took another swig from her drink. 

Kukui barked a small laugh under his breath and leaned over to whisper in her ear. 

“Don’t look now, but Kahuna and crew at two o’clock.”

“Hmm?”

Kukui used his eyes to subtly direct Burnet’s gaze towards the entrance. 

Kiawe, Lana and Mallow were hovering just behind a large potted plant next to the fancy hostess podium. The three teens wore identical ‘tired but pleased’ expressions on their faces.

The two professors locked eyes, grinned, and nodded in silent agreement. 

Kukui started waving energetically at the small crowd at the door. A curvy woman with short hair and probably the shortest and tightest shorts Burnet had ever seen glanced over. Her eyes lit up and she waved back before saying something to the hostess, and making her way towards their secluded corner.

“Who is she? I like her outfit,” Burnet asked as she took a long swig from her drink. 

“That’s Olivia! We go way back! We’ve known each other since we were kids. She was also one of the captains when I did my island challenge!” 

“OHHHH, the famous Olivia!” Burnet said, glancing up at the gang who was now hovering over their table. 

“Well, well, they let you in here looking like that, Kukui?” Olivia asked. She put a hand on her hip and leaned on the table with her other palm.

“They’re actually having a special today, yeah! Shirtless professors eat free!” 

He nudged Burnet’s knee under the table, almost to silently ask _“Well?…”_

She nearly spat out her drink. 

Olivia leaned in closer.

“No shirt, no service, KUKUI.” 

He chuckled softly and fake punched the Kahuna’s bicep. She grabbed it and theatrically pretended to cringe in pain. 

Her eyes swept over to Burnet. 

“Ohhhh, the famous Burnet! Or I’m assuming,” she said with a big smile. “Otherwise, this underdressed rascal has some explaining to do. Not that you can’t have dinner with other people, Kukui, but I saw that little cheek smooch through the window.” 

Kiawe made a stank face over Olivia’s shoulder. Mallow and Lana put a hand to their mouths and smirked smugly.

“Alright, we should probably give them some space, kids,” she laughed. “They’ve been apart for quite a while, and are probably a bit desperate for some alone time. Let’s go celebrate at another table…my treat.” 

“Hey, does that mean you finished your Grand Trial? Way to go, guys! Why don't you join us and we can all celebrate together!” Kukui cheerfully offered, sweeping an arm at the empty spots at their table. 

“Yeah, we’re okay with it!” Burnet said. “Pull up some chairs!” 

After checking with their waiter, the table was soon full and bustling with energetic chitchat. 

As the three teenagers become engrossed in their own conversation, Olivia almost immediately started interrogating Burnet. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she smiled as she took a sip from a large colorful drink. “Hatesshirts McGee over here wouldn’t shut up about some cute white-haired scientist in Unova. It drove me nuts.”

“Oh really?” Burnet asked, turning to Kukui and smirking as he cringed sheepishly.

“He constantly talks you up. It’s rather cute,” Olivia said, taking another long sip. 

Burnet winked at Kukui. “It’s okay. I talked about you a lot too. At the lab especially.” 

Kukui gave her a huge embarrassed grin.

“And you’ve just moved here for good?” Olivia asked with a small wistful smile. 

“Yep! I’m the new director at the Dimensional Lab. I’m taking over for Anise.”

“Oh! I know Anise. I like her. She’s kind. And smart as a whip.”

“She is! I bet she’s going to be a good mentor. I’m very excited to start…”

As Burnet and Olivia chatted, Kukui watched Burnet animatedly come to life. 

He smiled a small dreamy smile as he watched her excitedly gesture and laugh as she quickly gave Olivia a condensed version of her work, before asking questions about Alola and Olivia’s job as a Kahuna. 

_“I’m hella lucky,”_ Kukui sighed to himself. 

Suddenly, Olivia glanced down at Burnet’s chest. 

“Apologies, but…” 

She leaned in to get a closer look at Burnet’s exposed décolletage. 

Burnet’s face turned a bit red.

Olivia’s eyes lit up. 

“Is that a…oh GOODNESS,” she gasped. 

She turned to Kukui and back to Burnet with a look of excitement and exasperation.

“You two are engaged? And didn’t mention it???” she asked incredulously. 

“I…keep forgetting! It just happened! Earlier today!” Burnet explained frantically, throwing up her hands.

“EARLIER TODAY???” 

“Yeah, I proposed when I picked her up at the airport. And then she hit me with Mirror Move near the docks. Heh.”

“WE’RE INTERRUPTING A ROMANTIC DINNER ON THE DAY OF YOUR ENGAGEMENT???” 

“It’s okay, it’s okay! It’s fine, Olivia, you don’t need to drag everyone away!” Burnet laughed as she waved her hands in the air. 

Olivia paused in the middle of shooing Kiawe, Lana, and Mallow to another table. 

“Goodness, if you insist!” she shook her head as the teenagers returned to their seats in slight confusion. “Sorry, kids.” 

She turned back to the couple with an even more wistful smile. 

“At least let me offer you my congratulations. And treat you to dessert. The sweets here are incredible. Right, Mallow?”

“Aww thanks Olivia!” Mallow laughed. 

“Her family own this restaurant,” Olivia explained to Burnet with a proud smile. “Several of the desserts on the menu are actually hers.” 

“Ooooh, Any chocolate recommendations?” Burnet asked with sparkles in her eyes. 

“There’s an occa berry and triple chocolate cake that people seem to really like!”

“I heard triple chocolate and I am sold. Deal,” Burnet grinned, rubbing her hands together. 

“Careful, it’ll be a little hot,” Olivia warned. 

“I ate five raw occa berries for a dare once. I can handle a berry or two in some chocolate,” Burnet scoffed good-naturedly.

“Did you really? How did you not die?” Lana asked suspiciously.

“It was part stubbornness and part the fact that I like spicy food. Plus it was worth the pain to impress and terrify an entire break room of scientists who said I couldn’t do it.” 

“Hardcore,” Kukui grinned, leaning back in his seat.

The three teenagers continued looking over the menu while the adults worked on their drinks.

Kukui broke the comfortable and friendly silence. 

“Ahh, Olivia. There's something I’d like to ask ya…” 

He grinned and rubbed the back of his head. 

“Speaking hypothetically, if I were to ask you if you’d…ya know, be in our…would ya?” 

“Are you asking me to be an attendant for your wedding?” 

The word “wedding” shot straight to Burnet’s stomach. 

The world swirled around her for a moment, and suddenly, everything seemed more loud, more bright, more real. She took a few deep breaths to center herself and barely registered that Olivia was speaking again.

“On one condition. You need to wear a shirt for the ceremony if your future wife wants you to.” 

Kukui's future wife almost spat out her drink a second time. 

He barked out a deep belly laugh. “Alright, O. Deal.” 

Burnet gasped indignantly. 

“No. No way. Your glorious muscles are not going to waste during the wedding.” 

Kukui nearly spat out his drink.

Olivia sat in a stunned silence.

She burst out laughing. 

“…alright, it's official. You’re made for each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, I didn't even know that Kahunas will treat you to a meal at their local restaurant. I was looking up the closest restaurant to Heahea and BAM APPARENTLY I WROTE IT CANON. OLIVIA WILL ACTUALLY BUY YOU DINNER AT MALLOW'S PLACE AFTER YOU DEFEAT HER. 
> 
> Anyway, I'm still having fun with this! Olivia is amazing. I should have made an excuse to include her earlier. 
> 
> ...and...err...keeping the next chapter in mind...
> 
> *Sheepishly changes the rating to E*


	3. Moonlighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rockruff continues to not ruin everything. Wherever he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING. If you are under 18 or don't want to read that sort of thing, back out now! You can also read to the first page break if you want to get some fluff without the sexiness!
> 
> For those of you who are all about the sexy times; ENJOY.

The moonlight melted onto the water where it shimmered and danced on the inky ocean like quicksilver.

Burnet watched it, totally entranced.

“It’s so pretty out here,” she said to Kukui, who was working on setting the anchor. 

“Yeah! I love night sailing. And this here cove is one of my favorite spots.” 

He smiled down at her, taking a moment to stare while she was distracted by the sea.

His eyes swept over her downy hair, her upturned eyes, her adorable grin…he took in all of her, shining in the glow of the bright full moon. 

_“She’s so pretty.”_

He glanced at her chest and saw a glint of silver. 

He smiled wider as his heartbeat kicked into a faster rhythm.

_“She’s here for good. We’re finally together. We’re so together we’re getting MARRIED. We did it.”_

He turned on the white anchor light and eagerly plopped down to sit next to her. 

She ducked her head and smiled at him, looking up through her thick lashes.

Kukui leaned in, cupped her cheek, and kissed her.

The moonlight haloed them in its shimmery gleam as they silently pecked at each other for a few moments, their lips alternating between slowly brushing together and pressing a little bit harder. 

Burnet hummed softly.

“This is just like a dream.”

“Well, you’re the expert…”

Kukui raised an eyebrow and grinned against her mouth. 

“Are you dreaming?” he teased.

Burnet pulled away and gave him a sardonic look.

“How much damage will a magnezone do if it uses…hmm…volt tackle…against an equally experienced fearow?” 

“Trick question. A magnezone can’t learn volt tackle.” 

“In that case, I’m not asleep. I didn’t know that, so it would've been impossible for ‘dream you’ to know.” 

Kukui continued babbling.

“Naw, volt tackle’s a signature move. Only the pichu family can learn it. Oh, unless you have a smeargle…”

Burnet started laughing.

“Okay, okay, I’m convinced.” 

“Haha, sorry.”

“It’s okay! I like it when you ramble like that. It’s really cute.”

Kukui's heart skipped a beat. 

_“I’m cute! She said I’m cute!”_

He grinned sheepishly. 

“Hey…you doing okay?” he asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “We haven’t had much of a chance to talk one-on-one yet and…I dunno, moving so far away and changing jobs must be a little intense. You’ve seemed hella on edge over the phone, too.” 

“A little. I’m a bit nervous, but more excited. I’ve been here enough times and know enough people, so it isn’t too much of a shock. And I mean…you’re here. You always make me feel safe.” 

Kukui melted. 

“You make me feel safe too,” he said with a huge, goofy smile. 

Burnet laughed at his silly expression and twitched a little, energetically kicking her legs, which were hanging over the bow.

“Mmm, there are more good feelings than bad feelings going on in my head? That’s what I mean to say. Heh, I’m about to start babbling. I guess I have a lot of excess energy right now…”

She got up and lithely danced her way through the moonlight to the cabin door.

She turned and crooked her finger at Kukui, raising her eyebrows suggestively as she shimmied her hips. 

“…but fortunately I know a good way to burn it off.”

She shot him bedroom eyes. 

“I need your help, though.” 

Kukui tripped over his own feet as he frantically flew into the cabin after her.

 

* * *

 

“Ohh…mmm…”

“Feel good?”

“Uh-huh.”

Kukui continued to stroke Burnet with his firm hands. 

“Let me know what feels good,” he whispered into her ear.

“Mmm…I will…”

He grinned and squeezed her shoulders a bit harder, pushing into her tight muscles with his strong fingers. 

“Planes are murder, huh?” 

“Tell me about it. MMMM. Lower…there.” 

He dug his thumbs into a knot under her shoulder blade. 

She moaned loudly and wiggled against him in relief.

Kukui swallowed. 

“Hah…careful. It sounds like you’re…” 

_“Focus, man!”_

“Sounds like what?” Burnet teased breathlessly. 

“Ya know…” 

“Spell it out for me.” 

“Nuh-uh.” 

She laughed softly. 

“Oh! I know!”

She moaned enticingly and let her head fall back against his chest.

“…it sounds like you’re pleasuring me,” she whispered. 

Kukui’s hands clawed into her shoulders with a flinch. 

“Hhhh,” he grunted. 

“When’s the last time you touched me?” 

“I…”

“I remember…I remember how good you made me feel.” 

“Oh…” 

“I remember how frantic you were. How into it you were. You practically ripped my clothes off…” 

“MMPH.” 

“And then we…it was so hot.” 

Burnet squeezed the tops of her thighs with her hands as she closed her eyes and moaned softly, shimmying against the dumbstruck man at her back.

“The way you moved…the sounds you made…”

She whimpered. 

“I think about it when I touch myself.” 

Kukui snapped. 

He frantically grabbed Burnet and spun her around to crush her to him and kiss her hard, moaning against her mouth.

She eagerly returned the kisses, letting her hands trail up and down her fiancé’s bare chest. 

His muscles twitched under her touch. 

“Mmm,” he softly groaned, sliding his hands into her hair and kissing her deeper. 

She sighed and shivered.

She dipped her head to lightly kiss at his neck. 

Kukui jerked and laughed, pulling away. 

“Hah, ticklish! I’m not into the necking thing. Unless I’m the one doing it to you.”

Burnet cackled softly.

“Go for it, then.” 

He nuzzled her jaw to ask her to tilt it up.

She groaned softly as he started nibbling and kissing at her neck.

“Ugh. My favorite,” she sighed. 

“I like it too,” Kukui murmured, his voice sending vibrations across her skin.

He resumed biting gently at her shoulder, and his hands started to wander… 

He slowly slid under her shirt, and started touching her bare skin.

“Oh, I missed that,” he groaned. 

Burnet’s stomach clenched and she swallowed. 

“Do…do you have a blanket?” she asked suddenly, breathing lightly as his lips trailed back up to peck at her neck. “To cover us? Before we get…umm…I’m…”

She pulled away.

She looked down at her hands. 

“It’s been a while and I’m…kinda feeling a little nervous all of a sudden.” 

Kukui stopped immediately. 

“Yeah, I have a few. Lemme find one,” he said with a soft smile before kissing her forehead. “But umm…it’s okay if you don’t want to-“

Burnet shook her head hard. 

“Nope. I haven’t gotten laid in six months. This is happening.” 

Kukui groaned.

Burnet slid off of his lap and leaned in to whisper in his ear. 

“I want you,” she moaned. 

Kukui jumped up like he’d been electrocuted and frantically dove across the cabin to tear into a cabinet, tossing items over his shoulder as he searched.

“Blankets, blankets, blankets ohthankyouheretheyare,” he groaned, gently tossing a soft blanket onto the bench, and draping the other over his shoulders like a cape.

He turned to his fiancé and flapped his arms like a giant goofy bird before diving onto her with a devious grin on his face. 

Burnet shrieked playfully as they began play wrestling under the blanket. 

“Oh no! Help! Someone help!” She choked out as Kukui tickled her and kissed at her neck. “I’m being attacked!” 

“Kukui used block! There’s no escape,” his voice rumbled against her collarbone as she wiggled and sobbed with laughter. “You’re mine now.” 

“What a terrible fate! Anything but that!” she gasped, grabbing him and bodily shoving him with her muscular arms until she was once again on top and in his lap.

As she used her body to restrain her wiggling fiancé, she shoved her hips into his…

…and accidentally ground against him.

Kukui froze.

“Oh…mmm,” he hummed under his breath, his whole body jolting against hers. 

Burnet moaned as her lower stomach clenched in response, in that familiar and wonderful way.

He slowly pulled the blanket from his shoulders to protectively drape it over her instead. 

“Do that again?” he whispered against her neck in a wrecked tone that sent warm shivers down her spine. 

She started grinding against him in small slow circles, whimpering softly as he gripped her hips to gently guide her movements. 

“Wow…” Kukui breathed, swallowing thickly before gently kissing and nibbling at her neck.

“Touching you is okay?”

Burnet breathed out a long sigh. 

“Uh-huh.” 

His hands slid up and started gently massaging her ribcage.

She huffed and shoved his hands aside to hurriedly pull her shirt and sports bra over her head in one smooth movement.

“Wow…yeah…” he groaned, eagerly ducking his head under the blanket to lavish attention onto her chest. 

Burnet wordlessly cried out and dug her fingers into his loose hair as he kissed and touched and tasted her body in the most gentle and soft and wonderful ways that drove her crazy every time. 

“Honey…” she whimpered, subconsciously resuming her hips’ circular motions.

“Yeah?”

“I want you.”

“Mmmm. I want you, too.” 

“I need you.”

“I need you, too…oh man, I missed you so much.”

He gently trailed up the curve of a breast with small kisses. 

He brushed his lips against the peak and moaned softly. 

“…so much.”

Burnet whined.

“Hold…on…”

She rose to her knees, leaving Kukui’s lap cold and empty for a moment. 

She hurriedly pushed her leggings off, one leg at a time, taking her underwear with them.

Kukui watched, spellbound. 

While she finished dealing with her clothes and the blanket, he glanced at her body.

He swallowed thickly.

He frantically started shrugging out of his open shirt and shorts.   

Burnet giggled shyly and helped her flailing fiancé get unstuck from his clothing. 

In a few moments she was back in his lap and they were feverishly kissing, moaning into each other’s mouths and eagerly touching each other as the blanket rippled over them with their undulating movements.

She gripped his hips and slowly inched forward until she was pressed against him. 

Kukui whimpered. 

“Wait…I need to get…I brought some in my bag…

Burnet tapped her fingers against his chest. 

“I actually wanted to talk to you about…that.”

She nuzzled his neck with her nose. 

“Remember when we talked about…how I can’t get…and we’re…and neither of us has…”

She gulped. 

“I don’t think we…need it anymore? Remember I already checked with…and she agreed?”

“Woah, what?”

Kukui huffed a bit nervously.

“If…if you’re really sure it’s okay, and it’s not a heat of the moment thing…”

“It’s not. We already talked about it. We can safely do this.”

She smiled shyly against his neck. 

“…at least I’d like to. If you wanna.” 

Kukui gulped. 

“Oh man…okay,” his voice cracked nervously.

She inched forward again, this time pressing against him more fully.

A hot, slick smoothness slid against him. 

He yelped.

They locked eyes.

She slowly raised her hips.

She sank onto him.

They cried out together as she started rocking against him. 

Kukui’s hands frantically gripped her back as she sped up her movements. 

“You feel so good,” Burnet gasped, resting her cheek on the top of his head. “Oh…this feels…amaz…ing.” 

Kukui whimpered brokenly. 

“I’ve needed this…I’ve needed you…so badly…” she moaned. 

Kukui groaned loudly and grabbed at her harder. 

“Oh no…” he moaned against her neck. “No, stop saying such sexy stuff in such…a…sexy…voice. Stop moaning…stop being so hot…I can’t keep going. Oh, oh no, I can’t keep going, I can actually…feel…you…MMMPH.”

“But I’m so close. And you feel so good…you’re…gonna…make…me…AHH!” 

Burnet frantically sped up. 

Kukui cried out. 

“No, I can’t, I can’t handle it…”

“Shhhh, relax, it’s okay…honey…I’ll…help…”

She hurriedly snuck a hand between them and started rubbing herself with small light circles as she bounced in his lap. 

She closed her eyes and sighed.

The gentle sounds of the ocean and the sound of Kukui’s frantic breaths and the sound of her gasps and quickening heartbeat and the gentle rolling of the boat and the scent of his hair and the feel of the soft blanket and the feel of his warmth against her body as his hips subtly pushed back against her in tiny pulses as she rocked in his lap and…

She screamed softly into Kukui’s shoulder and writhed against him as wave after wave of warm, soothing, electrifying, intensity melted over her entire body. 

After several seconds of her mind being a total blissful blank, she bonelessly slumped onto him, breathing hard. 

“Ahh,” she sighed. 

As she slowly regained her senses, she realized Kukui was still gripping at her back and that he was still… 

She opened her eyes blearily and looked into his face. 

He was grinning. 

“I…did it. I actually did it,” he huffed. 

“Huh?…”

“It took calculating move damage in my head, but I did it.” 

It took a second for Burnet’s addled mind to realize what he was saying.

She started cackling. 

“You dork!” she wheezed into his shoulder with a grin.

“I just wanted to see if I could!” he laughed. “I held it back when you…but it was so close. I basically misfired.”

“Aww, but I like it when you…with me.”

“Haha, I won’t try for it again, then. But…” 

He leaned in to kiss her gently. 

“Do you wanna keep going? I kinda accidentally reset myself and…”

Burnet’s stomach fluttered. 

“That sounds great but I’m…really kind of exhausted now, so…”

“Oh! Oh, that’s okay, of course, we can totally stop-“

“I mean I want you to get on top, silly.”

Before she could blink, he gently picked her up and laid her down on the plush blanket. 

Burnet sighed and reached for Kukui to pull him in and kiss him tenderly.

He moaned against her kisses as he slowly cuddled onto her soft, warm body, wiggling against her and pulling the other blanket over them as he got comfortable.

“Don’t worry about lasting, alright? I’m already satisfied. Just relax and enjoy yourself,” she whispered against his lips, shivering a bit at the feel of his skin and gentle touches on her oversensitive body.

“O…okay.” 

He sank into her. She moaned softly. 

He whimpered and immediately started a quick, frantic rhythm. 

She cried out.

He choked out a loud, overwhelmed sob. 

She clutched his back and started to whisper in his ear in a shaky voice that dripped with honey and pleasure. 

“You feel so good…I’m…so…sensitive right now…and you…still…feel…so…good.” 

He sobbed again. 

“The way you move your hips…it’s so good…it drives me crazy…when we were apart…I…dreamed about that…I…dreamed about…you…ahhh…AHHH!” 

He whimpered a broken “Yeah?” into her shoulder.

“I didn’t wake myself up…I let myself…dream about you…until you made me…I…I came in my sleep!” she sobbed, burying her face in his hair and digging her nails into his back. 

He grabbed her hips and forcefully growled against her neck, his voice high pitched and wild. 

He sped up into a rough, hard rhythm. 

Burnet’s eyes widened…

They squeezed shut…

…and she shrieked as she was flooded by that warm, comfortable, intense pleasure again, her body engulfed in that overwhelming pulsing static even harder than before. 

She could vaguely hear Kukui crying out something that sounded like a syllable of her name as he pushed deep into her and ground his pelvis against hers, twitching uncontrollably as he whimpered and sobbed into her shoulder. 

Her mind floated in serene silence as she gasped his name over and over again until she was only mouthing it. 

They breathed against each other on the soft bench, the salty ocean air cooling them off as they slowly recovered. 

“Oww…your nails…are vicious…” he finally gasped. 

“Oh no…I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright…it’s kinda sexy…”

He smiled against her neck.

“Battle wounds mean I did a good job.”

He shyly nuzzled her.

“Umm…did you really just…twice?” 

“Uh-huh.”

“Wow.” 

“I can do that sometimes when I’m really relaxed. I’ve done it by myself before. But never with someone else.” 

She could feel him grin even wider against her neck. He hugged her tight.

“I’m glad you trust me enough to…be able to do that. Heh.” 

“Yeah. I'm really comfortable with you.” 

“Aww! You make me feel so good, honey.”

He started kissing her cheek with loud exaggerated smacks. 

She smiled dreamily and leaned into the kisses. 

“You make me feel really good, too.”

She giggled softly.

“I’m gonna be really sore tomorrow, though. Hee.”

Kukui lifted his head from her cheek and started petting at her disheveled hair. 

“Oh no, did I hurt you? Where are you sore? Can I help-”

“No, no, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? Don't hide it to spare me. I can find you painkillers or give you a rub or-“

“I'm fine, Kukui. It’s just my legs from riding you, and my hips where you grabbed me.”

“…are ya super sure that’s it?” 

“Well…also…err…”

She gestured below her hips. 

“There too.” 

She blushed and grinned.

“It’s a good ache, though. I like it.” 

Kukui silently continued petting her hair comfortingly. 

Burnet’s eyes started to droop. 

“Sleepy,” she murmured softly, cuddling against his warm skin. 

“Do you want clothes? And somethin’ to get clean? We can totally sleep here and dock in the morning. If you want.”

“In order…pajamas in my luggage…the red bag…yes, please. And yes. Sounds…nice…”

She let out a small snore. 

Kukui laughed and silently slid away from her. 

After some searching, he put a wipe in her hands and gave her a second to half-heartedly clean herself as he dug in her luggage. He then carefully helped her semi-conscious body into an oversized t-shirt and a pair of soft shorts.

She mumbled something that sounded like “Thank you.” 

His dark eyes crinkled from his wide smile. He turned away and quickly cleaned himself before pulling on his boxers. 

He slid under the blanket to snuggle his  fiancé.

 

* * *

 

Kukui fell asleep to the sound of the ocean, the rocking of the boat, and Burnet’s gentle breathing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shakes her head and leaves to get a snack in the kitchen*


	4. Sea Salt and Chocolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rockruff didn't ruin anything this time either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING. This isn't quite as explicit as past chapters, but there's a lot of suggestiveness mixed in with the fluff. It's more of an M vs an E. Proceed with caution!

Hot.

The only thing Burnet registered as she slowly woke up was an all encompassing, burning heat.

_“Oh no. Do I have a fever? No, I feel okay. Other than the fact that I’m covered in sweat…”_

She cracked open an eye, and found a contributor to the sweltering temperature.

Kukui was clinging to her, strands of his dark hair sticking to her glistening neck, his mouth wide open in mid snore, his hands gently kneading into her side like a litten…

Despite herself, she smiled.

“This is the worst mix of uncomfortable and sweet,” she mumbled to herself good-naturedly. “Ugh, I’m glad I put the ring in my makeup bag last night. I feel really gross. Good job, past Burnet.”

She glanced at the thick blanket.

“This is your fault, too. Thanks.”

She wiggled and sighed.

“Okay. I don’t have a choice. This is unbearable.”

She started nudging at Kukui.

“Honey. Honey, wake up.”

“Five minutes, Rocky.”

“I’m not Rocky.”

“Sure ya are. Go play with your squeaky ball and I’ll give you breakfast in a minute.”

“I don’t have a ball.”

“Must’ve rolled under the bed. Go look for it, buddy.”

“I can’t fit under your bed.”

“Oh shoot, did you finally evolve? Which form?”

“Holy crap, Kukui. Wake up.”

“Didja learn any new moves?”

“KUKUI.”

“Five minutes.”

“Okay, that does it.”

Burnet grabbed his hands and shoved them under her shirt and onto her chest.

Kukui jerked awake.

He looked down dumbly to see what his hands were holding.

His cheeks turned red.

He involuntarily squeezed and thumbed at her sensitive breasts.

Burnet arched into his hands and giggled lightly.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she breathed into his ear.

Kukui blinked for a few moments before he eagerly continued feeling her, becoming more awake by the second.

“I’m glad I told you I like being woken up like this, because this is really hot,” he grinned, gently massaging at her.

“I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. That would be kinda sketchy,” she sighed, relaxing as she enjoyed the half-awake attention. “You have clearance to get me back, by the way. I’d like to try it.”

“Oh wow, I…definitely might need to take you up on that,” he murmured sleepily.

“Okay, your hands feel really nice but…I feel so gross. I’m a sweaty mess,” she sighed, pushing away the blanket.

Kukui immediately removed his hands.

“Aww, you feel great to me, but okay!”

Burnet sat up and swung her legs over the side of the plush bench.

“Wow, it’s hot,” she sighed, fanning at herself a bit.

“Well, I can offer an immediate solution to your problem…”

Kukui lightly tugged at her shirt.

She turned to look down at him.

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Burnet cackled and shoved at him lightly.

He grinned up at her.

“But seriously, if ya need to get clean, jumping into the water would be a fun way to do it!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! The boat has a ladder. You can easily get in and out of the water with it.”

“And it’s not dangerous?”

“Nah. The pokémon in the cove are pretty chill. They won’t bother us.”

“Okay.”

They made their way outside into the orange light of the very early morning, with lots of stretching and yawns.

(And in Burnet’s case, a slight limp).

Kukui immediately started taking off his boxers.

“Woah, wait, what are you…”

“It’s the best way to experience nature! WOOO!”

He took a running start and jumped into the water, completely nude.

Burnet ran to the side of the boat and looked over the edge, grabbing it with her hands.

“Are you serious.”

Kukui’s head broke the surface and he flipped back his long dark hair with a gasp.

He grinned up at Burnet's incredulous face.

“Come on in!”

“…my bathing suit’s kinda buried in my luggage. I'm not sure where it is.”

“That’s okay! You don’t need it! Just jump in like I did!”

“Ahh…I’ll climb down.”

Her head disappeared and a few seconds later she was carefully hopping down the catamaran’s wide ladder.

Kukui eagerly swam over to meet her.

“Aww, you still have your clothes on!” he pouted.

Burnet laughed nervously and sat on a step.

“Mmmm…swimming sounds great, but I really wouldn’t be able to find my bathing suit very easily. It’s okay, go have fun. I can talk to you from here.”

“…but you sounded really uncomfortable in the cabin. You don’t wanna get clean?”

“I’m fine.”

She avoided his face, staring out at the horizon instead.

“Okay. I don’t wanna be a pushy jerk, so I won’t force ya. But in the interest of full disclosure…is there a reason you don’t wanna jump in?”

Burnet kicked her feet a little.

“Can you not swim?”

She shook her head.

“Are you scared of deep water?”

She shook her head.

“You can tell me if something’s bugging you. Am I making you uncomfortable?”

He frowned.

“If that’s it, I’m really sorry! It won’t happe-“

“I’m self-conscious about being naked!”

Silence.

Kukui’s eyes slowly widened.

“Wait…but…Huh?”

Burnet could practically see a physical question mark pop over his head.

“But we’ve…and I’ve seen you…huh?”

“Think about it.”

Kukui frantically dug through some of his fondest (and sexiest) memories for clues to solve one of the biggest mysteries he had ever encountered.

“First time…then…and then…and then the calls you were usually wearing…wait…last night with the bl-”

His eyes widened.

“How did I never…”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“It was always either dark or you were covered. How did I never notice that?”

“Well, it can be hard to notice stuff in the heat of the moment.”

She ducked her head shyly.

“Darkness and quick glances and touching and partially dressed is okay. But daylight and nothing to hide under?”

She sighed.

“Nope.”

Kukui swam closer to cling onto the lowest step before resting his chin on his crossed arms.

He stared up at her.

“I am…a really crappy boyfriend slash fiancé if I never noticed that. What else have I been oblivious about?” he muttered.

“Hey, no, I was sneaky about it. Don’t beat yourself up, it won’t help anything.”

Kukui sighed dejectedly.

“Okay. But speaking of helping…umm…”

He glanced back up at her with a small spark of an idea in his wide, friendly eyes.

“This isn’t me creeping on you. Professor’s honor. But…I can just not look?”

Burnet blinked.

“It’s okay if you aren’t interested, but…if you really wanna jump in without me seeing, I’d give you space. I can even go back in the cabin. I just want you to be comfortable.”

She stared at him.

Her shoulders slowly lost the tension that had been keeping them bunched up to her ears.

“You are so sweet.”

Kukui frowned.

“No, it’s called being a decent human being.”

“Yeah, true.”

Burnet rubbed her arm.

“No. This is dumb. I would trust you with anything.”

She raised her chin defiantly.

“Alright. I wanna get naked in front of you.”

She stood up and grabbed the hem of her oversized shirt.

“It…might take me a second, though,” she muttered, squeezing and stretching the fabric in her hands.

Kukui silently stared at her.

She avoided his eyes, choosing to watch the sparkling droplets of water gently dripping from the ends of his damp hair instead. They twinkled with orange flecks of light in the morning sun, and one or two of the bigger drops even refracted miniature scenes of the horizon before they slowly fell from his long hair to rejoin the ocean.

She glanced up and finally met his eyes.

Burnet found it pretty hard to maintain eye contact with people, but she noticed that Kukui was often a huge exception.

His lashes were short but curly, and his rich brown irises gave an effect of being intense and deep, like she could fall into them and never return if she wasn’t careful.

She trusted those eyes.

She took a long, deep breath.

She slowly ducked out of her shirt.

She held it in front of her chest protectively for a second, her bare shoulders shaking slightly.

“Here goes.”

She turned and gently hung the shirt on a step.

“Okay…”

She closed her eyes and quickly stepped out of her shorts, almost like she was pulling off a band-aid. She hung them alongside the shirt.

She turned back, eyes still closed.

“Oh boy,” she breathed weakly. “I’m naked. In daylight. With you right there.”

Kukui was silent.

Burnet risked cracking one of her eyes open.

Her fiancéwas pointedly looking away.

She laughed softly and climbed down to the last step.

Kukui swam to the side of the ladder to allow her to quietly slip into the water.

Burnet sighed in pleasure as the soothing ocean washed away sweat, and cooled her off. She ducked underwater to rinse her face and hair.

After a few seconds of silent bliss, she broke the surface and swept her pale hair off of her face, her eyes stinging a bit from the salt.

She groaned happily as she easily treaded water.

“Okay, I needed that. I feel like a new person.”

She opened her eyes to look at Kukui.

He was still hovering by the steps, and still staring at the horizon.

“Honey, seriously. Relax. I trust you. You can look at me.”

“You sure you're okay with it?”

“Yes! Actually, please look. It's scary, but it feels good at the same time.”

"...okay. I'm coming over. Lemme know if you start feeling uncomfortable."

Kukui let go of the ladder and swam towards her with silent strokes.

He treaded in front of her.

He shyly reached out and pulled her rapidly cooling naked body to his, keeping himself afloat with his strong legs.

He leaned in and kissed her, the salty droplets on her lips and her wet hair and her shivering body and her soft breaths against his mouth overwhelming his senses.

He pulled away, slowly blinking as he stared into her eyes with wonder.

_“Is this the difference between loving someone and being IN love with them?”_

“…love ya.”

Burnet shyly nudged his shoulder with her pointy nose.

“I love you too. Uhh...not to ruin the nice moment, but…”

She smiled sheepishly.

“I’m really hungry.”

Kukui burst out in laughter.

“Hah, alright! Guess what I have aboard the boat.”

“Trail mix.”

“Nope.”

“Day-old-pizza.”  
  
“Nope.”

“Some of that horrific instant coffee?”

“Oh heck no.”

“A single, crushed nanab in a sandwich bag.”

“Gross. And nope.”

“Just tell me what it is, captain sexy.”

“NEW NICKNAME. I’m calling it.”

“OH, NO. COME ON.”

“Alright. You get one hint. I got your favorite.”

Burnet’s eyes widened.

“DOBASH MALASADAS?”

She tore up the ladder while Kukui looked on in laughter.

“DON’T FORGET YOUR-okay, I’ll grab your clothes.”

When he reached the deck, he found Burnet comfortably wrapped in a huge towel, sitting crossed-legged, and happily munching on a malasada.

Kukui grabbed a towel for himself and plopped down in front of her with a grin.

He grabbed the bag and eagerly helped himself to one of the tasty treats.

“Heck yeah.”

“So good.”

“Mmyeh.”

“You know…I can’t have these without thinking about…”

Burnet winked shyly.

Kukui’s eyes softened with nostalgia.

“Aww.”

His eyes drifted to the corner of her mouth.

“Hey, honey? You’ve…got a little something…”

Kukui reached out and gently swiped away a dab of chocolate filling.

He smiled.

“Got it.”

Burnet looked up at him, her eyes wide and suddenly misty.

“I’m such a sap. I can’t even make fun of you for doing something so cheesy,” she choked.

“Hey, you know what to do,” Kukui said, starting to get a bit weepy himself.

Laughing while attempting to stave off tears, she grabbed his hand and gently sucked the filling off of his thumb. 

“This is when I say ‘that was so unfair’ and almost combust from how cute you are.”

“…and then I say ‘show me unfair’ and goad you into kissing me.”

Kukui grinned.

“I don’t need goading.”

He leaned in and pecked at her lips, lingering as the taste of salt and chocolate tempted him and made him want more and more…

 

* * *

 

As the sun finished rising over the cove, Burnet softly gasped and sobbed into Kukui’s shoulder as they gently rocked together under the towel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, even if this isn't my best writing? It's kinda a favorite of mine. It was so easy to write for some reason, and I dunno. I'm just satisfied with the scenery and the way everything played out. 
> 
> Shoutout to Noh for seeing the future and predicting the skinny dipping ahaha. 
> 
> Still don't know where this is going. Onwards! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! *Finger guns*


	5. Move-In Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kukui and Burnet pick up their kid from daycare, and smooth out some nerves.

“Careful of his nose, Hau! Be gentle. They enjoy scratches on the neck like this.”

“Kay!”

“See the rocks? That’s what he uses to defend himself. You remember what happened in the kitchen!”

“Uh-huh! He’s cool!”

A young boy with wide gray eyes and a short ponytail plopped onto the grass. He gently patted at the rockruff with his pudgy hands, carefully avoiding the sharp rocks in the puppy’s neck. The dog twisted towards the boy to lean against him and happily rub against his hand.

“I’m gonna be sad when he-“

“WOOOO THERE HE IS! HEY, BUDDY!”

The old man chuckled.

“Well, well, look who’s finally back, Rocky!”

The puppy yapped excitedly and bolted for the yard’s front gate. He leapt onto his trainer to frantically rub his scratchy ruff all over the man’s neck.

Kukui laughed and squeezed his friend in a big hug as he looked over at the small family.

“Did he give ya any trouble?”

“Not at all! Everyone else is quite content at the lab. And Hau had a wonderful time helping! Didn’t you, Hau?”

The young boy looked up at the professor and grinned a huge gap-toothed smile.

“Rockruff used rock throw, Professor Kukui!” he announced proudly, jumping in place. “I told him to use rock throw, and he did it!”

“Yes, you did a very good job, boyo. Would have been a better idea to do that outside, however!” Hala chuckled, patting the child’s head. “You two nearly destroyed the kitchen window.”

“Uh-huh. I’m still sorry, Tutu.”

“Hey, way to guess what moves he’d know! Are ya gonna be a trainer in a few years, cousin?”

The boy’s face lit up like the sun. He put his hands behind his head and grinned.

“Yeah!”

“When the time comes, I’ll teach ya some tricks! Betcha Old Hala will too! You’ve already got the makings of a bona-fide trainer, yeah!”

Hau stared up at Kukui with a mixture of interest and admiration.

“Cooooolllll!”

He turned his eyes from Kukui to another professor, who was hesitantly hovering by the gate.

“Who’s she?” he asked, tilting his head curiously.

“That’s Professor Burnet! She’s a super cool scientist! She studies dreams and other dimensions! Come on, Burnet! Meet Kahuna Hala and little Hau!”

She grinned awkwardly and entered the yard.

“Hello! Er…I mean, alola!” she saluted, bending over to pet Rocky, who immediately started rubbing her legs.

"Alola! I've heard a lot about you, Professor! It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance!" 

Hau looked from Burnet to Kukui and back again a few times.

“Do you kiss her?” he asked suspiciously.

“Hold on, Hau!” Hala laughed, gently tackling his grandson in a teasing headlock. “Yes, Kukui and Burnet like each other, but not every girl and boy want to be romantic together! Be careful about that!”

“Oh. Right. Sometimes they’re best friends and that’s good!” Hau said sagely.

“Yes. And sometimes a couple is not necessarily a boy and girl. Whomever you love is just fine!”

“Oh yeah, that’s right too!” the boy nodded hard and grinned up at Burnet.

“But you like Professor Kukui a lot, don’t you Auntie? Is it because he’s really cool and nice? Does he like you a lot because you’re a professor too? You look really smart.”

Burnet burst out in giggles.

“I like Kukui a lot, yes,” she said, picking up the wiggly rockruff to hide her small blush.

“Actually, Hala, speaking of…that, we kinda wanted to ask you if you’re gonna be free in…oh, say a year or so?” Kukui interjected, leaning over to scratch the squirming puppy in Burnet’s arms.

“Need someone to watch Rocky again?” Hala laughed.

“Well…yeah, probably. But ahh…yeah, we got engaged yesterday. We wanted to know if you’d help us seal the deal.”

Hala’s eyes lit up.

“Oh…oh, that would be my honor. How splendid! My hearty congratulations!”

Hau gasped.

“Does that mean you’re doing a wedding?”

He made a face.

“…does that mean I haveta dress up?”

Burnet burst out in laughter again.

 

* * *

 

 

The two professors dragged Burnet's suitcases down the familiar dirt path, the wheels leaving shallow tracks in the dust behind them.

Burnet stared at the sky and sea, watching the turquoise waves crash on the beach and the clouds dance in the deep blue sky as she scuttled alongside Kukui’s long strides.

He was quiet.

His steps were longer and faster than usual, making it a bit hard for her shorter legs to keep up.

They rounded the bend, and a familiar beach house popped into view.

Burnet smiled hard and felt her heartbeat speed up a bit.

She looked up at Kukui to grin at him.

He stared straight ahead, his mouth in an uncharacteristically serious straight line.

They reached the front steps and Burnet lightly nudged him, trying another grin.

“What’s the matter? Aren’t you excited?”

“Y-yeah.”

“You sure? You’re quiet.”

“Yup!”

He shifted from foot to foot as he hesitated at the stairs.

“Okay. Something’s very wrong. I can tell.”

“Ya know me way too well.”  
  
“Talk?”

She plopped down on the steps.

Kukui joined her, gently putting aside the suitcase he’d been carrying before he sat down.

“I think it’s finally my turn,” he said after a long moment.

“Hmm?”

“…to be the nervous one.”

He crossed his arms and drummed his fingers on his tense bicep. He stared down at his green shoes.

“You’re nervous?” Burnet asked, taken aback. “What in the world about?”

“I guess…I literally only just now realized you’re moving in with me. I’m hella worried about messing up. I’m worried that you won’t like it here, or I’ll drive ya crazy or something.”

He started tapping his foot.

“Or that you suddenly won’t like me anymore,” he muttered to his shoes.

“What…huh?”

“Remember how Rose broke up with me out of nowhere? I’m convinced it was because I drove her nuts after we moved in together. I can be pretty annoying.”

He turned to look at her with the biggest and saddest eyes she had ever seen on him.

“If that happened to you…I’d feel like crap. I don’t want you to feel stuck with me or get stranded here if it…doesn’t work out. You mean the world to me. I just want you to be safe and happy.”

Kukui looked down at his tapping fingers.

“I really like you,” he finished in a quiet voice.

Burnet could only stare at him, openmouthed.

“Are…are you serious? Kukui, I’d be fine if something happened. My lab has that little apartment space. I’ll probably end up using it anyway, on nights I can’t make it home. And…ugh, I promised myself I’d keep my mouth shut about this… I was secretly really jealous of her and it was a bit uncool and immature of me. But…you were Rose’s first of five failed relationships that year. She had a lot of stuff to work through. It wasn't really your fault.”

Burnet poked his arm.

“You’re not completely responsible for the failure of that relationship, buddy. It’s a two-way street. Don’t give yourself all of the blame.”

“O-okay. Still worried about messing up with you, though.”

Burnet sighed.

“We’ll probably drive each other nuts sometimes and fight occasionally. But I mean…that’s already happened, right? And it wasn’t a big deal, right?”

“…yeah.”

“Why do you think it wasn't a big deal?”

“We…we talked?”

“Uh-huh. We’re good at that, right?

“…yeah.”

“If you did something that really bothered me, what would happen?”

“You’d…tell me?”

“Yep.”

His eyes widened.

“…oh.”

“Didja just figure out the difference between me and Rose?”

Kukui put his face in his hands.

He sighed deeply in relief.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, the ocean spray and gentle breeze rustling their clothes as they thought.

Burnet kicked her feet at the pale sand under the stairs.

“…I really like you too,” she said in a quiet voice.

An arm slowly draped over her back.

Kukui’s nose gently nuzzled her bare shoulder.

Burnet looked up at him, her heart pounding a bit.

The little laugh lines around his eyes crinkled as he shot her a hesitant but brilliant smile.

She leaned over and hugged him.

“You’re gonna be an amazing husband, Kukui,” she whispered against his neck.

He shivered nervously.

“Oh man…you’re gonna be my wife someday.”

“Yes, I am.”

“We’re gonna get married.”

“Yes, we are.”

“We’re gonna live together and sleep in the same bed all the time, and cuddle, and I get to make you coffee in the morning, and…”

“…and we get to watch documentaries together! And I get to play with your hair whenever I want, right?”

“Oh man, yes please…”

Burnet jumped up and reached for two of her suitcases. She dragged them up the stairs and looked back at Kukui.

She offered him her open palm, shooting him a wide, shining grin.

“Coming?”

He took her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter! I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Have a good weekend, and thanks for reading!
> 
> *Finger guns!*


	6. Title Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ROUND ONE: FIGHT.

Burnet poked her head into the bedroom with a grin. 

She dragged her suitcases through the door and looked around thoughtfully. 

“We might need to rearrange everything in here. I don’t know if there’s room for both of my bureaus, but maybe we can make them fit. Or we can use one of ‘em somewhere else.”

Kukui rubbed his beard and critically appraised the room as he hovered in the doorway.

“Oh yeah, I was kinda thinking of that the other day. Your set is way nicer than mine. Let’s just use yours, yeah? I don’t mind moving this dresser to the loft. And I never liked that bed frame anyway.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah! I mean, none of my stuff matches. I like yours better. As long as I can steal one of your dressers for my clothes?”

“Oh yeah, of course. If I can claim half of the closet for my dressy stuff and spare lab coats, the bigger one is all yours!”

“Heck yeah! That works.”

Burnet sat on the bed, grinned at Kukui, and stuck out her tongue teasingly.

“…after all, you need lots of space for your clothes. All those clothes you wear all the time.”

“I’ve never heard ya complain once about that.”

“...layers and layers of clothes. How have you not passed out? It's so hot.”

Kukui smirked.

"Oh yeah, maybe you're right. I think I feel a heat wave coming on..."

He slowly half-shrugged out of his lab coat, gazing at Burnet with an intense stare. He posed sexily and waggled his eyebrows at her. 

She started cackling. 

Kukui grinned and pulled his coat back on. 

“Anyway, it’ll be nice to have everything finally match in here.” he said as he adjusted his collar with a flick.

“The rest of my stuff should arrive in about two weeks. We’ll have to rent a truck or borrow one.”

“No big! That’ll be easy.”

Burnet got up and shoved her luggage into a corner.

“Until then I guess I’m living out of my suitcases. I’m glad I got rid of so much stuff before I left. Sending more would have gotten crazy expensive.”

“How much is coming?”

“My bedroom set minus the mattress, my reading chair from the living room, a bookcase, and three big boxes of junk. Books and other stuff. Oh, and my bass. Everything else is already here.”

“Oh, that’s not bad. What did ya decide on the kitchen stuff?”

“Gave away the little I had to Juniper and Fennel. Except for my mugs and coffee maker.”

“Heh, of course.”

“I hope the mugs survive. Especially the #1 scientist one.”

“HEY, that’s a dig at me.”

Burnet gave him a wide open palmed shrug and smiled smugly.

“We can’t BOTH be the number one scientist.”

“I’ll fight you for it.”

“For the mug???”

“And the title. It’s a science-off, yeah!”

Burnet started laughing.

“How would that even work? We’re not even in the same discipline.”

“Don’t care. It’s on.”

Burnet dove to her biggest suitcase and tore into it. She jumped onto the bed and shrugged into the long lab coat she had pulled from her clothes pile.

“IN THE RED CORNER IS PROFESSOR KUKUI, THE ALOLA REGION’S RESIDENT PROFESSOR, AND RESIDENT HEART THROB. HE’S FIVE FOOT TEN OF PURE MUSCLE, AND READY TO ROCK THE LAB WITH SOME KILLER MOVES,” she roared in a deep, booming voice.

Kukui jumped onto the opposite side of the bed, which nearly sent her flying.

“IN THE GREEN CORNER IS PROFESSOR BURNET, ONCE THE DREAM QUEEN OF UNOVA, NOW THE SCRAPPY HEAD SCIENTIST OF THE AKALA DIMENSIONAL LAB. SHE’LL CAPTIVATE YOU WITH HER CHARM, AND THEN BLIND YA WITH SCIENCE, OH YEAH!”

Burnet shrieked with laughter as Kukui lithely spun in the air and tackled her to the bed with a gentle elbow around her waist.

They tiredly giggled into each other’s shoulders as they lightly wrestled on the sheets. The stiff fabric of their lab coats rustled and tickled their faces as they rolled on the squeaky mattress, their bodies pressed together in an aggressive hug.

 

* * *

 

Rocky snuck into the bedroom a half hour later in search of his squeaky ball. He found his trainer and Burnet cuddled together in bed, fast asleep and still in their lab coats.

He snuggled up to them and quickly fell asleep too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favorite Kukui move puns are the subtle ones.
> 
> Anyway, the last chapter was short, so here! You get another weekend update! Hooray!
> 
> Have a good week, guys! Thanks for reading!


	7. The Dimensional Lab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a bad pun. I'm talking horrible.

“HEY! Take a break from being an amazing staff and get your intelligent, hard-working behinds over here!”

The gaggle of scientists stopped their bustling activity and slowly made their way across the lab to cluster around their boss, who was standing by the beloved coffee maker with her arms crossed and a large smile on her friendly face.

“Alright, everyone. As you are all acutely aware, your boss will be retiring in a few weeks. She’s loved making discoveries, conducting experiments, and brewing way too many pots of coffee with all of you.”

She turned to her right and smiled at the woman who was hovering next to her shoulder.

“But all good things must come to an end, and it will soon be time for me to pass the reins, so to speak.”

She clapped her hand on Burnet’s shoulder.

“Everyone, say hello to Professor Burnet.”

“Hi!” a lone intern yelled over the polite golf clapping. “I like your headband!”

The scientists all started laughing.

“Thank you, Noni,” Anise chuckled. “Continuing the introduction, Burnet is an amazing researcher who has largely gone under the radar- heh, make that under the dream radar!”

One of the scientists coughed.

Burnet slowly put her palm to her forehead.

“Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t resist! Anyway, she’s made several incredible discoveries at her old lab in Unova. If you’ve read any papers on the Interdream Zone or the Therian Formes of legendaries, chances are good it was her. Believe it or not, she's also the one who invented the visoscopes that some of you are using.”

The small crowd started murmuring in interest. 

“Well, I had a lot of help with all that,” Burnet sheepishly laughed behind her hand, slightly embarrassed at the attention.

Anise patted her back to encourage her to stand a bit straighter.

“She’s going to do amazing things here, and run some incredible experiments. I am sure of it. Will y’all help her keep the lab going strong when I’m gone?”

The scientists gave another round of applause, this one much more enthusiastic.

 

* * *

   
“And this space will be your office. I’ll leave the furniture to you, but I’ll be taking the plants, the books, and the computer. I’m assuming you will want to replace that old thing with something a little less ancient, anyway. There should be room in the budget to get a new one.”

Burnet looked around and grinned.

_“It’s so big! And warm! And I’ll have…”_

She walked to an open window and looked out.

The sun shone in a bright blue sky.

She took a deep breath. 

_“…fresh air!”_

“My old workspace was so stuffy compared to this!” she said, turning to take in the room again. “I mean, I don’t want to knock my old lab. It was a good job, and I liked everyone there! But my office was cold. And cramped.”

She paused.

“…sometimes it smelled weird.”

Anise laughed.

“My first research job was a lot like that too.”

She leaned a hip on her desk.

“You’re going to be great at this,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes. “However…if I may offer some constructive advice?”

“Oh! Of course!” Burnet nervously nodded and put a hand on her hip in an attempt at a casual stance.

“You are going to be questioned. You are going to have researchers second guessing your decisions. You are going to have to prove yourself a few times before you are taken seriously. Don’t take it personally,” Anise said gently. “Don’t let ‘em take advantage of your kindness, and be careful of downplaying yourself and your abilities. At the same time, know when to use a light touch, back off, and trust your staff to work. It’s a fine line to tread, but I think you of all people will be able to walk that line with incredible balance and grace.”

Burnet leaned on the windowsill and nodded at her shoes.

“Okay. That makes sense. Thank you,” she said. “But I mean…I’ll be honest. I’m excited for the research and the experiments and this amazing office, but I’m worried about the leadership angle because…sometimes I have a hard time…err…interacting with people? I’m…”

She tapped her head.

“…you know.”

She drummed her fingers on the sill as Anise considered her for a moment.

“You've already led small teams of researchers with incredible success. This will merely be a larger team.”

Anise smiled.

“At the end of the day, remember that you are still a scientist. You aren’t a president or chief or anything like that. Your main job is still research. It’s just that you’re in charge of your own experiments now. And remember that a lot of your fellow scientists…”

Anise tapped her head.

“…are a lot like you.”   
  
Burnet’s shoulders relaxed slightly as she shyly grinned at her mentor.

She took another deep breath of fresh air. 

“...I think I can deal with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another wicked short chapter, but I really wanted to show Burnet getting the lab! I'm a few chapters ahead right now, and there's actually some interesting plot stuff coming? I'm kinda excited for it!
> 
> Anyway, have a great week, guys! Thanks for reading!


	8. Charizard Glide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Burnet continues to settle into the new job, and makes a new friend.

Burnet stared at the computer.

Her eyes started to go wall eyed from the strain.

“Owww,” she muttered, closing her eyes to rub at them vigorously.

She stretched and hunched over the laptop in her cross-legged position on the floor.

“You can sit at your desk, you know,” Anise laughed, putting another book in a large cardboard box. A bronzong hovered over her shoulder and helped her by levitating books from the higher shelves.

“Eh, I’m out of your way over here,” Burnet said, taking another sip of her coffee.

Anise laughed.

“The new laptop working alright for you?”

“Yes, thanks! It’ll probably take the rest of the day to install all of these programs, though. And then I need to put them on the desktop computer too.”

“My computer wouldn't be able to handle even a quarter of what you’re using. I should have upgraded it many times, but it started to feel like an old friend. It’ll be a personal computer from now on, anyway. No need to tax it with heavy duty programs anymore.”

Burnet smiled at Anise and tapped her fingers as she watched a blue installation bar slowly creep across the screen.

After a long and comfortable silence, she finally spoke up.

“Thanks again for…well, everything,” she said, putting her chin in her hand.

“My pleasure! I'll rest easy knowing the lab is in good hands.”

"Aww, shucks." 

Burnet drummed her fingers again.

“Mmm…this one will take another hour. I have a quick errand to run in Paniola. Mind if I run out for lunch while I’m waiting for this to install? It’ll be quick.”

“Goodness, Burnet! I’m not your boss. You can do whatever you want!”

Burnet laughed sheepishly and saluted Anise as she grabbed her bag and walked out the door.

 

* * *

 

 

Kukui tapped away at an email, hunching over the computer in his basement lab.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone, computer, and tablet all started ringing at the same time.

A picture of a younger Burnet, grinning and in graduation robes, flashed on the screen.

“Heyyyyy Honey!” Kukui cheerfully waved, before noticing it was just an audio call.

He sheepishly dropped his hand.

“Hi! How was your day?” Burnet’s voice chirped, barely audible over a loud staticky whooshing sound.

“It was good!…uhh, I can barely hear ya. Why is it so noisy on your end?”

He heard something that sounded like a light cackling.

“Remember how we’ve been brainstorming ways to get me from Akala to Melemele quickly?”

“…yup?”

“I might’ve found a solution. Come outside.”

The connection clicked off.

Kukui looked down at Rocky, who was curiously staring at him with his head cocked.

He shrugged and jogged up the stairs.

The front door creaked as he opened it and poked his head outside.

He looked around, curiously scanning the beach and fiery sky.

He almost missed the camouflaged charizard, who swooped out of the orange sunset to land on the sand in front of the porch.

On its back was his fiancé, cackling with barely contained glee.

“Hey, sexy. Going my way?”

Kukui’s mouth dropped open.

Burnet grinned, slowly taking off her dusty orange helmet to hold it under an arm. She shook out her hair and winked.

“Did you catch?…is that?…how?…you own a leather jacket?…woo?”

“A poké ride! I remembered tauros, and checked around. A family in Paniola just started offering a charizard ride service! He takes less than half the time of the boat! He’s such a good boy!”

She leaned forward to scratch the charizard’s neck, who wiggled his wings happily. She grinned at Kukui, who still looked a little thunderstruck.

“I already scheduled weekday pickups and drop-offs. I might need to sleep at the lab sometimes, but he should work well for most days!”

She gave her ride a final firm pat.

“Well? Whatcha think?” she asked, hopping down.

Kukui walked over and dazedly patted the charizard’s neck.

“I think you’re a genius. And that you look really cute in that gear. And that watching my fiancé swoop out of the sky on a charizard was a pretty unexpectedly rad way to end the day.”

Burnet hugged his torso and laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one! I also updated with a drabble yesterday, which will hopefully help you guys forgive me for the brevity! 
> 
> Future chapters have a lot of fun stuff. I've been writing up a storm, and can't wait to share it with all of you.
> 
> Have a good week! Thanks for reading!


	9. Psychic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is finally a battle.

Time seemed to slip away as shadows shifted and the sun slowly made a half circle outside of the windows in Burnet's office.

She slowly worked away the afternoon as she typed away at a text document and downed cup after cup of coffee. 

Before she knew it, the shadows were long and she was done. 

“Yes!” she sighed as she finished editing and pressed save.

“Sup, Boss?” a young woman asked from the other room as she poked her head through the door.

“Finished the paper on our temporal disturbance observations. A whole three days before the June deadline.”

The dark haired woman leaned down to give her seated boss a hi-five.

“My first author credit in a scientific paper!” she grinned, excitedly clapping her hands together like a popplio.

“Nice work, Maple!”

Burnet smiled, remembering her own excitement at seeing her name in a journal for the first time.

She stretched, her back cracking as she pressed it against her chair.

“I think I need a quick break. I wanna get in a walk before I submit this thing and go home,” she announced, pushing her rolling chair away from her desk with a graceful spin.

“Sounds nice. I jogged by the bay this morning. It was the most relaxing run ever!”

Maple shoved her oversized lab coat sleeve up to her shoulder and flexed her thick arm.

Burnet critically appraised her assistant’s bicep, rubbing her chin in thought.

“Wow, Maple, I think you need to rush to the pokémon center, because those lillipups are SICK,” she gasped in a low voice.

Maple burst out in flustered yet flattered laughter.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a half hour. I’ll take Pookie with me. He’s been even lazier than usual lately,” Burnet grinned, petting the pokémon at her feet.

The slowpoke blinked dumbly and smiled ten seconds later.

“Ppppooooooooooo…”

“Okay, let’s go big guy!”

“…pppooo.”

“Have a nice time, Boss!”

 

* * *

 

 

Burnet strolled along the seaside trail, watching the waves crash on the ocean and the wingulls soar over the water as she hummed to herself. Pookie barely kept up with her, despite her deliberately slow pace.

“So relaxing. Life is good,” she hummed, making up a song as she walked along the deserted path. “Getting exercise and sunshine, like I should!”

Burnet and the slowpoke rounded a corner.

“What a perfect day! Pookie and me are on our waaaayyy-“

“Ey! Your song sucks, yo!”

Burnet came to a screeching halt.

The slowpoke kept walking for a few more paces before he also stopped, slowly turning his head to look back at Burnet.

Three young adults in matching black and white outfits were blocking the path, squatting on the ground, their arms crossed threateningly.

Burnet blinked.

“Hi. You’re in my way,” she said, slowly waving at the silent posse with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

“Sup,” the middle one nodded, seeming to be the leader of the trio. She cocked an eyebrow at Burnet, her bandana moving over her mouth as she talked. “Nice slowpoke.”

“Thanks. Nice…matching outfits?”

The squatting girl scoffed.

“Aren’t ya scared, lady?” she asked, starting to sound annoyed herself.

“Uhhh…why.”

“Don’t ya know who we are?” the boy to her right indignantly spat. “We’re your worse nightmare, yo. We’ll shake ya to your bones, yo.”

“Oh. Okay,” Burnet nodded sarcastically, starting to get even more annoyed that her walk was being interrupted.

“…and the worst nightmare of that adorable lil slowpoke of yours,” the girl added, her eyes glinting. “I know a few shady places where that tail of his will get Team Skull some mad cash.”

Burnet blinked.

She burst out laughing.

“…hey, what in the heck, lady!” the girl snapped, narrowing her bright eyes. “We’re already damaged youths riddled with issues! You don’t have to play us like that!”

“Yeah, at least pretend to be a lil scared,” the third boy grumbled.

“Oh…oh, I’m sorry!” Burnet cackled as she wiped away a tear. “Listen, this slowpoke isn’t even mine. He’s kinda my lab’s mascot.”

“Oh yeah? A lab? What are ya, a scientist?” the girl asked, rising from her crouch.

“The title’s professor, kiddo.”

“Oooohhh, a professor! Fancy! Where’s yer lab coat, Prof???”

“It’s too hot for it out here,” Burnet sighed theatrically, rolling her eyes as she snapped the strap of her tank top with her thumb. “Can I please keep walking?”

“Naw. Don’t think so. Not until your slowpoke gives up its tail.”

“I already told you no.”

“Too bad. It’s coming with us, then.”

Burnet took a step forward to protectively hover over Pookie.

“That’s more like it! That kinda aggression’s what Team Skull Grunts live for,” the girl hissed, slowly reaching for her hip.

“If you’re reaching for a pokéball, don’t bother. I don’t have a team.”

“Whatcha got there, then?”

“FOR THE LAST TIME! HE’S NOT MINE! I DON’T BATTLE!” Burnet groaned, rubbing her temples.

“I don’t think ya got a choice, Prof.”

The girl tossed the ball, releasing a small lizard, who immediately lunged at Burnet and Pookie threateningly.

“For the love of…FINE! OKAY! FINE!” Burnet threw up her hands. “I GUESS!”

She stepped backwards, allowing Pookie to get a good look at his assailant. She crouched down to pat his head and get his attention.

“Alright, buddy, I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t battled since I was twelve, and even then I was just a dumb kid with a swablu,” Burnet whispered in his ear. “We have no idea what we’re doing, but you have to trust me. They’re gonna take your tail if you don’t stop them.”

Pookie blinked at her and grinned.

His eyes slowly drifted until they were staring in opposite directions.

“…perfect. Great.”

Burnet stood up and put a hand on her hip.

The girl whispered something into her pokémon’s ear. In a blink of an eye, the lizard scurried towards the slowpoke and spat out a small flame, which landed squarely on his shoulder.

The spark smoldered for a second before winking out.

Pookie didn’t react.

“UGH. At least that didn’t do much. Umm…what might you know…” Burnet muttered, tapping her chin.

“I don’t got all day, Prof!” the girl snapped.

Burnet rolled her eyes.

“Uhhh…water gun?” she asked, gently nudging Pookie with her shoe.

“Pppoooooooooo.”

He did nothing.

Burnet groaned.

“…guess not.”

“Bwahahaha! Try poison gas on ‘em, girl!”

The salandit belched a noxious cloud at Pookie.

It drifted harmlessly over his shoulder and dissolved in the ocean breeze.

Burnet started cackling.

“This is the worst battle ever! Wait until I tell Kukui.”

“HOLD UP! You know that obnoxious, move obsessed, shirt hatin’ numbskull? Were ya best buddies at professor school or what?”

Burnet grinned.

She surreptitiously played with her ring.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Ugh, who cares! Enough with the mind games! Just scratch ‘em and let’s get this over with!” the grunt growled, snapping her fingers at her pokémon.

The salandit lunged and started viciously scratching at Pookie’s face.

For the first time, Burnet felt her stomach drop a bit in genuine concern.

“POOKIE!” she yelled. “THEY’RE. GONNA. TAKE. YOUR. TAIL. DO SOMETHING!”

Pookie turned to look at her, the salandit perched on his head, scratching away like a vicious pointy hat.

He grinned.

“JUST USE ANY MOVE! I DON’T CARE WHAT IT IS!” Burnet yelled, waving her arms.

He sat in thought.

A spark of realization suddenly flashed through his vacant eyes.

They started to glow.

The salandit gently floated off of Pookie’s head, still making little scratching motions.

She flailed in mid air as her trainer shouted in alarm.

Suddenly, she went flying in a violent pulse of pink energy that made Burnet’s head hurt for a second.

Burnet covered her face with an arm and winced as she heard a loud smack.

She looked up cautiously.

The salandit was leaning against a tree, passed out cold.

Burnet gasped.

“You…was that psychic? Isn’t that a pretty advanced move for you to know?” she asked, crouching to check on the slowpoke.

He was back to goofily smiling, wall-eyed and clueless.

…and other than a few tiny scratches, just about completely uninjured.

“I…guess you’re more experienced than we thought?”

Burnet picked him up and hugged him in relief before looking over at the three grunts.

“Do you need help?” she asked, walking over with the pokémon still in her arms.

“Shut up!” the female grunt snapped, scooping up her unconscious salandit with a surprising amount of tenderness. “Just get outa here!”

“I…I can escort you to the nearest PC!” Burnet offered.

“JUST GET OUTA HERE!” the grunt shouted, glaring at Burnet with tears in her eyes. “Come on, boys! Let’s celebrate the latest spectacular failure in my horrible life!”

She took off running, the two male grunts in hot pursuit.

Burnet patted Pookie’s head as she watched the hooligans round a bend and disappear.

"Alright, buddy. I think it's time to go home." 

As they made their way back down the path, she absentmindedly kicked at rocks and played with her ring.

Her chest felt a bit heavy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, when Burnet said "I GUESS" she did this http://i.imgur.com/0bIBhdm.png
> 
> But my god, was this chapter fun to write. Writing a slowpoke was unexpectedly entertaining! #teampookie
> 
> I have written a TON in the past few weeks, so I might have more frequent updates for a bit. In any case, the next chapter should be up friday or saturday. 
> 
> Until then, thanks for reading! *finger guns!*


	10. Second Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which someone (obviously) gets a second chance.

“So…what can you tell me about her?”

Olivia thoughtfully tapped her chin.

“She was a good little trainer. She completed her Akala trials without a problem, but lost to me pretty spectacularly. No offense meant to her. She likely would have beaten me after training a bit and trying a second time, but from what I understand she just…decided to give up.”

Burnet’s eyebrows furrowed.

“…and that’s when she decided to run off to Po Town?”

“That would be my guess too.”

Burnet drummed her fingers on her desk and swiveled back and forth in her chair, thinking hard.

“Hmm. What were her strengths?”

“She was creative. She was severely underpowered to face me, but managed to stay in it for an impressive amount of time. She was traveling with a small group, and I noticed she was the one keeping them organized and on task. Once she left, they had no idea what way was up.”

Burnet raised an eyebrow.

“Organized? Interesting…”

 

* * *

 

 

“Awww what? It’s you!” the girl muttered, poking her pink haired head into the office and making a face.

“Hello. Please, take a seat,” Burnet offered, smiling and waving a hand at the chair waiting in front of her desk.

The grunt gave her a suspicious look and slowly sat down, holding the seat of her chair like it was going to blast off into the stratosphere at any moment.

“Listen Prof, I dunno why Kahuna Grumpy Pants forced me to come here in my nicest clothes, but I ain’t putting up with any garbage. Just tell me straight up whatcha want so I can go home and do my laundry,” she grumbled, slowly crossing her arms and glaring down at her feet.

“I’m not going to give you any garbage,” Burnet laughed, opening a drawer to grab something.

“If you wanna get back at me for trying to steal your slowpoke, don’t even try it. I’m a good climber. I can escape out this window no sweat.”

“I’m not going to get back at you.”

“Then why the h to-the e to-the double hockey stick am I here?” the young woman spat.

Burnet slid a tablet and a sheet of paper across the desk at her.

“How quickly can you fill and organize this schedule?”

The grunt silently stared at the calendar app and the piece of paper, biting her lip as she hesitantly picked up the tablet.

In five minutes she had the calendar filled, double booked events found and rescheduled, and even devised a quick way to format deadline goals.

She slowly slid the tablet back to Burnet, pouting doubtfully as she nibbled at a nail.

“Wow,” Burnet said, glancing at the calendar and grinning. “My schedule is a mess right now, but you just fixed June for me. This is really nice.”

“…cool.”

“Hmm…Olivia told me your real name, but what would you like me to call you? What'd make you comfortable?”

“…the name’s Ash.”

“Listen, Ash. I have an opening for a receptionist. I need help keeping my completely disorganized self in line, and we need another person to take shifts at the front desk. Would you like a job?”

Ash’s eyes bugged out.

“Wh-“

Burnet patiently waited for the offer to sink in.

“The heck? I tried to mug you and now you’re trying to give me a job?”

“Yup!”

“…that’s dumb.”

“Oh, don’t worry. You’re going to have a long trial period, and you’ll need to check in with Kahuna Nanu every few days. We’re gonna keep a close eye on you for quite a while…”

Burnet’s eyes sparkled.

“…just until I know for sure you’re not gonna try to steal Pookie again.”

The girl shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

“I’d…I’d get cash?”

“Mad cash.”

“I’d work here all the time? I wouldn't have a life anymore?”

“No, just weekday afternoons and evenings. Full time with weekends off.”

“…my salandit and wynaut can chill with me while I work?”

“What sort of question is that? Of course they can!”

“Uhh…the boss and big sis are gonna be disappointed. And I don’t have anywhere to live on this island.”

“You’re just making excuses now.”

“…”

Pookie slowly reared up on his hind legs to rest his front paws on the desk. He grinned at Ash and goofily let his tongue loll out the side of his mouth.

Burnet patted the slowpoke’s head and smiled at the young woman.

“Well? Whatcha think?”

Ash glared at her feet and stuck out her hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much part two of yesterday's update! A mini chapter, if you will. 
> 
> By the way, Ash was named after @beepboopwriting, who has been amazingly encouraging! It's also why the grunt has a wynaut! Thanks for being so awesome, kiddo. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! More to come soon! 
> 
> *finger guns*


	11. Just Desserts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a can of soda is slammed, and someone gets to do a dramatic chair spin.

An older scientist scuttled into the Dimensional Lab entrance, barely granting a glance to the young woman at the reception desk, who was in mid soda swig. She raised an eyebrow and violently pointed at the visiting hours sign with her thumb.

“I know the director, sweetheart. I have a meeting with her,” he said, brusquely waving a hand as he entered the elevator.

“Hold on, she ain’t got no-HEY!“

The door closed with a ding.

The young woman growled. Her wynaut and salandit chattered angrily at the closed elevator door as she slammed her soda can in irritation.

“Freakin’ creepy geezer,” she grumbled, picking up her desk phone to make a quick call upstairs.

“Ey yo, Prof. Suspicious dude incoming…”

 

* * *

 

The man hummed along to the elevator music as he shifted his weight and adjusted his grip on his briefcase. He checked his watch and adjusted his tie.

His long lab coat swished as he stepped into the nearly deserted lab and tapped across the tiled floor. Three younger scientists looked up from their computers in the corner and shared a knowing look. As the man marched into the director's office, barely waiting after a quick knock, they quietly moved to hover by the coffee maker next to the door.

"First sign of trouble and we're busting in," Maple whispered to her friends, who nodded sagely in agreement.

 

* * *

  

The man stepped into the dim office. 

“Anise. Good evening,” he said, not even glancing at the shadowy figure at the desk. “I hope you’re well. I will get to the point. I have a favor to ask…”

He placed his briefcase on her desk, opened it with a click, and started shuffling through the papers inside.

“I don’t think you’ve gotten any of my emails for at least a few weeks. You may want to check that. Anyway, my team wants to conduct some experiments to measure temporal disturbances. Your lab is the only one on Alola with the proper facilities, so I would be forever indebted to you if you were to loan me some of your equipment and space for a month.”

Anise was silent.

The scientist glanced up at the high backed computer chair, which was turned away from him.

He rolled his watery blue eyes and sighed.

“Fine. The lab will be properly compensated.”

She was silent.

“Fine. Only three weeks.”

She didn’t respond.

“I will not beg, Anise. It’s undignified. My team is eager to conduct this research.”

“…”

“Fine. Compensation, AND I’ll share the data with you. AND credit you and your team."

“So let me get this straight…”

The chair swung around.

“If I let you use my lab, you would be glad to do me some favors career wise?”

Burnet was leaning back in the chair, her legs crossed and her eyes narrowed as she stared him down over her tented fingers.

The man was too flabbergasted to respond.

She lightly cackled and leaned forward to rest her elbows on her desk, her lab coat's sleeves shuffling a bit.

“I guess you didn’t get the memo. Anise retired three weeks ago. This is my lab now.”

“…”

“I guess you also didn’t get the memo that visiting hours ended thirty minutes ago.”

“…”

“And I guess you also didn’t realize that all of my equipment and space is one hundred percent in use for the foreseeable future. It’s unfortunate, and I apologize, but I don’t have the means to help you.”

“…”

“If you’d like, you can check out our paper on temporal disturbances instead. It’ll be in a few journals this month. Isn’t that what you were interested in researching? Well, fortunately for you, we have it covered.”

Burnet leaned back and kicked up her feet on her desk.

“It was great to see you again. Please be sure to apologize to Ash on your way out for ignoring her and barging in after hours without making an appointment.”

She grinned and put her hands behind her head, gently wiggling her green flats on her desk.

“If you’ll excuse me. My fiancé will be here any minute to take me out to dinner. You remember him? The buff scientist in front of The Hano? Hat? Glasses? No shirt? Alola’s respected and well-liked regional professor? Looks like he can bench press a wailord?”

The man’s eyes widened slightly.

“…he says hello.”

Burnet eagerly ran to the window to watch her old tormentor storm down the road, the tails of his lab coat flying behind him as he rounded a corner and disappeared.

“That….was…one of the most satisfying experiences of my life,” she whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW I PROMISED THAT CREEPY DUDE FROM PART ONE WOULD NEVER COME BACK BUT...I HAD TO. I HOPE IT WAS WORTH IT.
> 
> ...yeah, it was worth it. 
> 
> There should be more updates by next weekend! Until then, have a great week! Thanks for reading! 
> 
> *Finger guns*


	12. Black Holes and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ultra Wormholes are ultra cool.

**Thunk.**

A cloud of wavy pale hair spread out on the desk, narrowly missing the full cup of coffee next to the computer.

Burnet winced and rubbed her forehead.

“Oww. I think that's my sign to call it good,” she muttered against the desk.

“You were here until four A.M. and were back at it by seven, Boss. I think it’s definitely time to call it good!” a young man’s voice called from the other room. “It’s already five!”

“Thanks for the concern, Koa! Don’t worry, I’m taking the weekend!” she yelled back.

“The three of us just had two days off. We can watch this thing! You need a break!”

“Fine! Just call me if there’s a spike. And make sure you trade shifts with Noni and Maple! And if any of you fall asleep and miss another spike, we’re gonna need to have a little chat!”

“We will, Boss! Go, go, go!”

Burnet laughed and packed up her bag, tossing in a dirty lab coat, goggles, and a few gadgets. She took a long swig to finish her coffee, downing the beverage in one gulp. She quickly rinsed the mug in her private bathroom before grabbing the bag on her way past her desk.

As she passed the windows in her office, she glanced outside at the beautiful sunshine and blue sky.

Her stomach clenched pleasantly.

There was someone waiting for her on the sidewalk outside of the building, his white lab coat glowing yellow in the late afternoon light.

Burnet grinned and ran for the elevator.

She took it downstairs, cheerfully saluting Ash (who was digitizing a mountain of old paper files) as she exited the front door.

“First month in charge done and done,” she sighed happily. “And only a few near disasters. Nothing compared to what I used to deal with. I’m so tired, but it was so much fun.”

She sashayed up to Kukui, who was sitting on a stone wall next to the sidewalk.

“Hey. No loitering in front of the Dimensional Lab,” she said, leaning over and putting her hands on the wall, caging him in place with her arms.

“Yeah? Says who?”

“Says the Lab Director, pal.”

“Oh naw, I’m in trouble? I’m just waiting to pick up a really cute girl! Please don’t kick me out!”

“Hmm. Have I seen her around? What does she look like?”

“She’s so cute…yellowy green eyes…”

He leaned in towards her.

“Soft white hair…”

He leaned in closer.

“An adorable smile…”

Closer.

“…a really nice butt,” he whispered, now hovering by her ear.

Burnet turned red and covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled at his grinning face, a bit flustered.

“GET A ROOM,” Koa yelled from an open window.

 

* * *

 

“Alright, where we gonna eat for date night? Your pick!”

“Somewhere with food.”

“Damn it, Burnet!”

“I missed lunch! I’m ravenous and the opposite of picky right now!”

Kukui chuckled and rolled his eyes.

They meandered down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand.

 _“Aww, I missed him so much,”_ Burnet thought, squeezing her finance’s hand as they walked.

He subtly returned the gesture.

“I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed again,” she sighed. “The apartment’s mattress is hard as a rock.”

“I can’t wait for that either,” Kukui grinned.

“I heard that suggestiveness. Didja think I wouldn’t catch that?”

“I was betting you’d catch it. Hoping you would, yeah?”

Burnet grinned slyly.

“Thirstttyyyy.”

A light crackling sound caught her ears, and she curiously swept her eyes over Kukui’s shoulder.

She froze.

Her hand flew up to protectively herd him a few steps behind her.

A bright, flickering light was hovering in front of an abandoned building, just over a crumbling stone wall. The object shone in sickly shades of blue and white and black, shifting between the colors like underwater beams of sunlight.

Everything seemed to happen at once, in slow motion.

Kukui looked at Burnet, who had already pulled a sensor from her bag, and zipped up her bodysuit.

Before he could even think to say something, she was sprinting for the rapidly collapsing wormhole, frantically pushing at buttons to turn on the device in her hand.

Before he could react, she climbed onto the wall, pulled her goggles over her eyes, and dove into the rift, her limbs spread, yelling in exuberance as she dissolved into the inky blackness.

As she disappeared, he could almost feel his soul leave his body.

He sprinted towards the wormhole, reaching out, feeling like he was trying to run underwater…

“BURN-”

Before he finished the last syllable of her name, a small figure in a black bodysuit dove out of the wormhole and collapsed onto the wall, just as it flickered and started dying with a crackle of energy and a gust of wind.

As the hole winked out of existence behind her with a bright flash, the woman slowly rose from her perch.

Kukui stared up at Burnet as she pushed her goggles to her forehead, her small frame haloed with an otherworldly light.

Her white hair was wild and standing on end with electricity as it blew in the wind, her hand in a tight fist as her back straightened, and a feral and slightly unhinged look in her bright eyes as she turned to look at him…

She glanced down at the sensor in her hand and let out a deafening whoop.

“I DID IT! I GOT A READING!” Burnet cheered, jumping in place and pumping her fists as she celebrated.

Kukui silently looked on, torn between feelings of relief, awe, and residual terror.

Burnet hopped down from the wall and jogged towards him, still looking completely disheveled and unglued.

“Gotta get back to the lab and onto one of my computers. It won’t take long. All I need is five minutes to transfer the data. Do you wanna come with me before we get dinner? Holy crap, this is a discovery for the history bo-“

Kukui frantically reached out to pick her up and lightly squeeze her in his arms.

“She's okay, she's here, she's okay…” he whispered to himself, clutching his raggedy fiancé to his chest like he never wanted to let her go.

"Mmmmpph?" she grunted, her face completely squished against his chest. 

“The next time you yell at me for getting hit with a Hyper Beam I am gonna laugh in your face, you hardcore, amazing woman,” he whispered into her messy, staticky hair.

 

* * *

 

Dinner was very quiet.

Burnet pushed her rice around her plate, making shapes with it as she kept sneaking glances at her fiancé.

“Are you sure you’re not mad?” she finally asked quietly.

Kukui shook his head.

“Naw. And I mean it. Just a little freaked. Think how ya felt when I got hit with Guillotine that one time.”

He smiled weakly.

“You freaking lost it on me.”

“Yeah, okay. I get it.”

She snickered at her plate and finally took a big bite.

“I guess we’re both balls to the wall.”

Kukui burst out laughing.

“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it.”

He tilted his head a bit.

“Are you sure you feel okay, though? Not sick or…off?”

Burnet shook her head.

“No. A little fuzzy, but I think that might be the static and adrenaline. I was only in there for a split second, and I had my protective gear on.”

She pointed her fork at Kukui with a grin.

“The bodysuit exists for more than your simple enjoyment, buddy.”

Kukui turned a little red.

Burnet cackled lightly.

“I’ll get checked out if I start feeling weird. Promise.”

“Yeah, alright. Good enough for me.”

He smiled at Burnet goofily, still a little bit awestruck by her.

“You know what you’re doing, professor.”

Burnet reached out to gently grab his hand.

When she brushed his skin, a sharp electrical jolt made them yelp and nearly spill their drinks.

Burnet shook her hand off and winced at Kukui.

“Err. Sorry.”

He worriedly furrowed his eyebrows.

She smiled sheepishly.

A small buzzing sound caused the professors to swing their eyes towards Burnet’s bag…

…which was starting to shake violently.

Burnet’s eyes widened.

“What the f-“

Her phone burst out of the bag, wildly beeping and jittering excitedly as it levitated over her dinner plate.

“OH HOLY CRAP,” she roared as she wildly jumped up, grabbed her chair, and held it up threateningly. “KUKUI, GET BACK!”

“NO, NO, HONEY, DON’T TAUNT IT! I KNOW WHAT IT IS! SEE THE SCREEN?”

Burnet glanced wildly at her phone’s screen, which was currently displaying a staticky image of a cartoonish, deviously adorable face. It blinked at her, grinned, and made a faint tittering noise that almost sounded like laughter.

Kukui leaned in towards the phone and waved his other hand at Burnet to get her to back away.

“Alola, Rotom! Nice prank! Are you alright in there?” he asked, smiling at the floating phone.

A pair of plasma tendrils slowly spread from the sides of the device. One of the makeshift arms clicked the speaker button.

“ZZT! Hello, human! Yes, I am Rotom!” the phone cheerfully chirped, buzzing excitedly as it investigated Kukui.

“The name’s Professor Kukui! Nice to meet ya!”

“Professor Kukui! Thankzzz for my new home!”

“Err…It’s not my phone. This here’s Professor Burnet! I think she’s the one who accidentally found ya.”

“Professor Burnet! Thank you for my new home!”

Burnet slowly sat in her chair, staring at her stolen cell with wide eyes.

“Holy crap, I’m so relieved this restaurant is almost deserted right now.”

She sheepishly waved at a table of tourists in garishly bright t-shirts, who were staring with open mouths.

“…sorry.”

“ZZZT! Sorry!” The rotom added, copying her gesture.

“Where did you come from, Rotom? There aren’t many of you guys in Alola. Make that none of you guys in Alola,” Kukui asked, surreptitiously looking it over as it gleefully hovered over their table.

“I lived in a junkyard in the place you humans called Sinnoh. And then I went through a strange hole that had good tazzzting electricity. I was trapped in a strange place. And then I saw Professor Burnet, who has a bag full of good homes. I picked thizzz one.” it buzzed, obviously very pleased with itself.

“Holy crap,” Burnet muttered again, covering her mouth with her hand. “It came from the wormhole.”

“Bzzt! Holy crap!” the Rotom cheerfully repeated.

“Hey now, let’s watch the language, pal!” Kukui laughed.

“Okay, pal!”

“Alright, with that settled…Rotom, would ya like to come live with us? I’ve been meaning to study electric type moves, and I’d love your help! I’ve got plenty of machines you can play with in the basement lab! And lots of electricity to eat!”

Kukui grinned at his fiancé and winked.

“Burnet would probably like to ask you some questions once she recovers from your little prank. I think she’d like her phone back at some point, too. Betcha I can find something you’d like even better, yeah!”

“That soundzzz agreeable! Thank you Professors Kukui and Burnet!” the rotom excitedly buzzed, displaying a thumbs up emoji on the screen.

“Killer! Let the humans finish their dinner, and then we can all head home!”

“Killer! Bzzt!”

Burnet groaned and let her head gently thunk onto the table.

“This has been. The longest effing month.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild rotom appears! 
> 
> It's pretty obvious, but yep, that's the future Rotom Dex! What a cutie. 
> 
> Also, those of you who follow http://ask-profkukui.tumblr.com might have caught the reference to one of their ask responses hehehe. 
> 
> Updates might be sporadic for a bit. I've got a lot of writing to organize! It shouldn't be too long, though.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always thank you so much for reading! Have an absolutely FANTASTIC evening and weekend!


	13. Satin and Silk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Olivia is a calming force of good, and Burnet rocks a white dress.

Months flew by.

Experiments were conducted. Papers were written. Lazy weekend evenings were spent on the beach.

And before Burnet knew it, she was staring down a rack of white lace and satin and silk with a slightly horrified expression on her face.

“So what styles are you interested in?”

Burnet shifted from foot to foot, nervously adjusting the bag on her shoulder.

“Umm…” she hesitated, avoiding the enthusiastic consultant’s eyes. “I’m not sure.”

The chipper woman started rustling in a rack, flying through a seemingly limitless supply of dresses.

“So no idea what sort of fabric you want?” she asked, poking her blonde head out from the dress forest.

Burnet shrugged sheepishly.

“All I know is I hate lace. It’s a sensory thing.”

“Well okay! That’s narrows it down a little! Let’s narrow it down even more. How much or little skin do you wanna show?”

“I get hot pretty easily, so…skin’s okay? Plus we’ll be on the beach, so I want to stay cool?”

“Ahh! Now we're getting somewhere!” the saleswoman said, rubbing her hands together. “Lightweight, no lace, and unafraid of cleavage.”

“Damn straight,” Olivia laughed from across the room. 

She continued thumbing through a rack of bright dresses as the saleswoman considered Burnet's options.

“I’m thinking...a diagonal waistline low on your hips. That would look stunning on you. You have a very short waist, so it would be flattering. Something like this!”

She pulled a dress from the rack.

“Short…waist?”

“Yes, you have a short torso. Kahuna Olivia also has a short waist, but her legs are much longer than yours. That makes her a bit easier to dress.”

“Interesting,” Olivia hummed.

Burnet glanced at Olivia’s legs.

As the saleswoman continued searching through the racks, Burnet self-consciously poked at her hips.

“Alright, try these. If none of them work, don’t get discouraged. I’ll help you find something else!”

Burnet followed her to the dressing room, her shoulders a bit slumped.

 

* * *

 

“ARGH!”

Another dress met its fate as it was returned to its garment bag.

“Relax, dear. You’ll find one, even if it’s not here,” Olivia said, gingerly attempting to sooth an increasingly frustrated Burnet.

“I know. I’m sorry if I’m being stubborn and grumpy. I just don’t like clothes shopping. It stresses me out,” Burnet sighed, sliding to the carpeted dressing room floor. “And this is the most horrific type of clothes shopping. Do I even have to wear a dress? Can’t I just wear a fancy lab coat and nice leggings? I can easily find a lab coat and leggings.”

Olivia frowned at the white heaps of fabric hanging on the dressing room wall.

“I’m sorry you don’t have more help. Or someone more…familiar to shop with,” she said, hesitantly crouching to sit next to Burnet.

“It’s okay. A big group would have been overwhelming. You’ve been a great dress search buddy.”

Burnet picked at a loose thread on her tank top.

“I really do appreciate it.”

Olivia smiled at her.

“Why don’t you try that one?” She suggested, pointing at a lonely dress off to the side. “The first one she gave you?”

“Err. I dunno. I don’t think it’ll look good on me. It’s a little…puffy?”

“Just one more? And then we can have lunch?”

“Argh.”

Olivia’s eyes sparkled as she stood up and held out the garment bag teasingly.

“Come on! Don’t be such a sour skitty, professor. We can have a good laugh when it makes you look amazing out of nowhere. I like the beadwork on it, in any case.”

“Alright! Fine! I guess the beadwork’s kinda neat!”

“It reminds me of clouds. The patterns? And the puffy skirt does too.”

Burnet cocked her head and inspected the fabric more closely.

“Huh. Guess I was too stressed out to notice.”

She smiled, despite herself.

“Kinda reminds me of the phenomena I researched back in the day.”

Burnet sighed and stood up alongside Olivia, gingerly grabbing the dress.

She smirked tiredly as Olivia zipped up the back.

“Alright, let’s see how ridic-“

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Olivia finally spoke up.

“Holy shit.”

 

* * *

 

Juniper’s hands were tangled in her girlfriend’s silky black hair when her text notification started going off.

“Just ignore it,” Fennel whispered, grinning as Juniper moaned softly against her ear.

_Ba dah dah._

“Ignorreee iiiiiit,” Fennel sang as her eyes slid shut, sighing happily while Juniper pecked tiny kisses at her earlobe.

_Ba dah dah._

“Mmmmphh,” Juniper grunted, rolling her eyes. “Sorry, babe.”

“It’s okay! Just peek to see if it’s important.”

Juniper gave Fennel a smooch on the cheek and rolled over to glance at her nightstand.

“Burnet. Ooh, this might be worth checking…there’s a photo.”

She picked up the phone and opened her messages.

A half-dressed Fennel poked her head over Juniper's shoulder to check out the picture.

She gasped.

Burnet was in a fancy dressing room with large wall length mirrors. She was standing on a small podium, wearing a sheepish expression as she flashed a set of victory signs at the camera.

She was wearing a gorgeous, elegant wedding dress.

She was practically glowing.

Fennel covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes immediately welling up with tears.

“Oh! She looks so pretty!”

Juniper stared at her phone for a bit before wildly nodding her head.

“We have the cutest friends. All of them are so cute it’s ridiculous.”

Juniper started typing away furiously while Fennel hung over her shoulder, kissing her bare skin in an effort to be a distracting nuisance.  

 

> Whatcha think?
> 
> i think if u don’t get that dress me and fennel are gonna fly to alola to kick your ass

 

* * *

  

“I absolutely hate being wrong, but in this case being wrong was a huge relief.”

Olivia smiled.

“I’m glad. You seem so much happier. And more relaxed.”

“Yeah, I am. Thanks again for putting up with me.”

“You were fine! I enjoy fashion, so it wasn’t like you had to twist my arm to go shopping.”

“Phew!”

Burnet silently watched the ocean waves crash on the rocks as they strolled along the busy path.

“I’m glad Kukui has you,” Olivia said out of nowhere, playing with one of the stones on her necklace.

“Oh. I'm glad I have your approval!” Burnet laughed awkwardly.

“Sorry if that was a bit random. Kukui is like a little brother to me in a lot of ways.”

She glanced down at Burnet.

“The way he looks at you…”

Her eyes softened.

“I can tell he really loves you.”

Burnet flushed and grabbed the strap of her bag, grinning down at her flats.

“Aww. I…I really like him.”

Olivia laughed.

“I’m sorry for embarrassing you.”

“It’s okay! It made me feel good to hear that.”

Burnet nudged at Olivia with her shoulder as they walked.

They smiled at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks very much for reading! I'm tired and don't have much to say, but I hope you all have a good week!


	14. Spectrophobia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...

A lone cough echoed in the book stacks.

Another pair of voices were softly trading notes on particle physics several rows down. 

A slowpoke crept out of a stack to stare at Burnet for a minute before happily lumbering off. 

She sighed. 

Her pen and book landed on the coffee table.

Burnet glanced over and stared at the swirling coffee in her mug.

The eddies in the liquid seemed to make little clouds and galaxies, the swirls looping and orbiting around each other.

They almost seemed to sparkle and change color. 

Strange.

If she tilted her head and stared just right… 

_“Ugh. can’t concentrate.”_

She pulled her hands into her oversized sweatshirt. 

She huddled into the plush chair.

One by one, the soft noises died until the entire room was plunged into total silence. 

She shivered. 

_“Something isn’t right.”_

She glanced up when she heard ominous footsteps in the empty stacks. 

**_Tap. Tap. Tap._ **

_“Something definitely isn’t right.”_

**_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._ **

Her heart started pounding. 

She grabbed a hardcover book in her shaking fist, slinking away to hide behind one of the stacks. 

The world shifted around her and she swallowed, her dry throat not cooperating. 

_“I always knew I’d die alone in a library.”_

The footsteps echoed menacingly as they got louder and louder. 

_“…like the little nerd I am.”_

Burnet’s heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest. 

_“What do I do? Can’t run.”_

She held her breath. 

A shadow slowly materialized in front of the stack next to hers. 

She could have sworn she’d seen a shadow appear like that before. And she’d been terrified then, too. 

Something to do with a bench? And late afternoon sun?…

It shimmered and contorted. 

“I know you’re in here,” it whispered, its scratchy voice oozing with poison and malice.

Burnet’s heart stopped.

“I’ll find you.” 

She silently shook her head and covered her mouth with a hand. 

“I’ll find you. Oh yes. I’ll find you. You were just sitting there in your favorite chair, looking all pretty, weren’t you?” 

Her hand started shaking uncontrollably. 

“Oh, little Burnet. That’s all you’re good for. Sitting there and looking pretty. Not that you’re even much good at that.” 

She shook her head again, more forcefully. 

“You’re not exceptionally intelligent. You have the personality of a moldy dishcloth. You don’t have many friends. You aren’t that attractive. You are the very definition of bland mediocrity…what will you do when you are forced to give up your lab and experiments because you can’t hack it anymore? It’s only a matter of time…” 

The shadow melted into a silhouette of a tall man. 

“…and you know it’s only a matter of time until he decides he’s had enough of you.” 

Burnet screamed. 

The shadow hissed and flailed, its tendrils of sickly gray flying around the corner of her stack. 

It slowly materialized in front of her, growing larger and taller and more condensed until it was a mass of solid gray smoke, taller than the stacks.

“I found you,” it purred. 

Burnet turned to run, but her legs felt like rubber. She tried to kick off the floor, but ended up flailing in slow motion, as if time was turning the world into syrup around her. 

“Poor thing can’t even run. Something else she has apparently failed at.” 

Burnet’s fingers clenched around the heavy book in her fist. 

She whimpered in fear and frustration as she tried to move, her limbs moving so agonizingly slow, as the shape behind her started making inhuman cackling sounds. 

Her chest suddenly felt warm.

She inhaled. 

“You know that’s not true. Come on, Burnet! You know better than that.” 

A huge unsettling grin took over her face. 

She wound up, spun around, and managed to hit the shadow with the book. 

It screeched a tinny, scratchy whine. 

She wound up again and started pummeling it in earnest. 

Every time she smacked the smoke, it fractured into light ashy particles and shrank. 

Her chest felt warmer.

“I just buffed ya. Put those strong arms to work and go for the K.O.!” 

She smacked the shadow one last time. 

It emitted a loud, anguished squeak and shrank to the size of a pebble.

Burnet lifted her foot and wordlessly crushed it under her green shoe, digging in with her heel to finish smushing it into scratchy dust against the tile floor. 

She looked up shakily.

“I knew you could do it, honey.”

Burnet stood alone in the book stacks, the library still quiet, the light still dim and foreboding, and the heavy book still in her quivering hand.

The book silently fell to the floor.

She sank to the ground, holding her stomach and sobbing silently until her chest hurt and her throat was gritty and raw. 

She rocked on the floor and looked down at her stomach. 

She was in her wedding dress. 

Her hands twitched against the smooth fabric and jagged beads on her stomach and she sobbed. 

_“I’m gonna ruin it…”_

Suddenly, she felt the warmth again. 

“Burnet…” it whispered, as she lifted her face, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

_“I can’t…move…”_ she tried to gasp, flinching with sickening twitchy motions. 

No sound came out of her mouth.

She was twisted up in satin and silk and lace, like she was being wrapped in a cocoon.

“Burnet…” 

The warmth was everywhere now, surrounding her as she emptied every bit of self doubt and insecurity into the dry library air with silent choking sobs as she was buried in designer fabric. 

She couldn’t move. 

She couldn't even scream.

_“HELP…”_

“BURNET…” 

She was twitching on the ground. 

“WAKE UP!” 

_“PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!”_

And then the ground was soft.

She felt warmth around her shoulders, gently gripping her and stabilizing her as she…

“HONEY!”

Her eyes flew open into complete darkness. 

She was alone in her lab’s apartment.

She shakily gasped, forcing herself to take deep, slow breaths. She untangled herself from her sheets and shoved them aside. 

She slowly sat up and put her feet on the cold hardwood floor.

It felt like she was moving underwater.

The dark, empty apartment creaked around her as she cautiously made her way to the bathroom for a glass of water. 

She clicked on the light and grabbed the empty cup on the sink. 

She glanced up into the mirror.

Glowing red eyes and a grinning shadow were staring back at her. 

“Mirrors can be scary, can’t they?” 

Burnet screamed.

The glass cup smashed into hundreds of tiny sparkling shards on the floor. 

“BURNET!”

She collapsed to the ground and curled into a little ball.

She closed her eyes and tried to scream again. 

Nothing came out. 

“HONEY!”

Burnet’s eyes flew open. 

It was dark. 

Her face was pressed into a soft, bare shoulder.

A warm body that smelled good and comforting was clutched to her, gently holding her and rocking her and patting her hair gently. 

“Honey, please, wake up!” Kukui frantically whispered into her ear. 

Burnet’s fingers dug into his back. 

She started sobbing. 

“Oh no! Shhhh, Honey. Shhhh…shhhh…you had a nightmare.”

He continued smoothing her hair and rocking her gently. 

She choked out a sob. 

“It wasn’t real. You’re safe. I’m here…” 

She closed her eyes and listened to Kukui's voice as she nuzzled into his shoulder. He talked for a while longer, babbling about nothing as he held her and rubbed her back and kissed her forehead. 

She silently counted down on her fingers behind his back. 

She opened her eyes.

Her face was still pressed into his dark wavy hair.

She breathed a sigh of relief and slowly calmed down. 

“Do you need anything?” Kukui finally asked. 

“Umm…water?” 

“Okay!” 

He hopped out of bed. 

“I’ll brb.”

As Kukui left the room, Burnet silently rolled into his warm spot under the sheets and cuddled into his pillow. 

She took a deep breath. 

She sighed happily. 

“Aww hey, you took my spot!” 

Burnet shakily giggled and burrowed deeper into the blankets. 

Kukui sighed good naturally and handed her a glass of water, which forced her to sit up. She eagerly drained the glass in a few gulps.

She put the empty glass on the nightstand while Kukui sat on the edge of the bed.

“Do you feel better?” he asked softly, leaning over to pet at her hair while she burrowed back into the sheets. 

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you remember what it was about?”

“Not really. Strange. I usually remember my dreams.”

“It looked really nasty. Like you were going toe to toe with Darkrai. I was kinda scared for a second you were gonna punch me.”

“Oh no!”

“It’s okay, even if you had I wouldn’t have been mad!”

He leaned in and kissed her forehead. 

“All that matters is you’re okay.”

“Thank…you.”

“Aww.”

“It was just sleep paralysis or something. I’ll be okay.” 

Kukui petted at her hair. 

“Do you need anything else?”

“Cuddles.”

“Okay, that I can definitely do.”

He hopped under the sheets. 

“Scoot!” he laughed, lightly shoving her off of his pillow. “You are such a little bed hog!” 

“Mmmmmmrrrr!”

“How the heck can you take up so much of the bed? You’re teeny!” 

“MMMRRRRRRRRRRR!” 

Kukui laughed and lightly kissed at Burnet's lips and face and tickled her cheek with his beard as they snuggled and got comfortable.

He only let himself fall back asleep when Burnet was softly breathing against his neck, quiet and peaceful. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sleep tight, don't let the darkrais bite!
> 
> Just use a lunar wing. You'll be okay!
> 
> Anyway, thanks very much for reading. Things will be a lot less scary in the future, I promise!
> 
> Have a great weekend, guys!
> 
> *Finger guns*


	15. Pranks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BZZTT!!!

Brrriiiiiiiing.

Brrriiiiiiiing.

Brrrii-

“Oh, hello honey! I-“

Burnet paused.

She stared at her computer and cocked her head, confused by the Kukui-less view of the basement lab space.

She leaned in close.   
  
“Ummm…hi? Are you-"

A grinning orange face slammed onto the screen. 

"AAAAAAHOLYFU-”

Burnet flew backwards on her wheeled desk chair, sailed a good five feet, and landed painfully against her bookshelf.

She sat on the floor dazed, with a pile of fallen books on her lap.

One more hardcover fell, smacking into her head painfully.

A light tittering laughter from her computer made her grit her teeth.

“ROTOM!”

The little spark of electricity tittered at her again before swishing away. He returned seconds later, housed in one of her old phones.

“Hello, Professor Burnet! Ehehehe bzzt!”

Burnet slowly got up, rubbed her head, and pointed threateningly at the laughing poltergeist.

“Never. Do. That. Again. Do you understand?”

“It was a good prank. Pranks are a fun way to show affection!”

Burnet returned her seat to her desk, pulling it in front of the computer. She sat and folded her shaky hands.

“Okay, Rotom. We need to have a quick talk. No, that was not a fun prank.”

She sighed.

“Okay, how do I explain this to a sentient spark of electricity…err…listen. Some humans have brains that work differently from other humans. Are you with me so far?”

The rotom cheerfully buzzed in understanding.

“My brain’s like that. It’s different. Getting jumped or startled can make me freeze up and stop working. Like if you were possessing a device and it got shocked with too much electricity. It’d short circuit and stop working for you. Right?”

Rotom’s large eyes widened.

“Bzzt.”

“Kukui isn’t like that. I’m sure he’s really enjoyed your pranks. But…err…if you did that to me on a bad day, I could get really sick.”

The rotom quietly hovered on the screen, considering her points.

“I see. Unlike Professor Kukui, Professor Burnet can be harmed by startling pranks. If I wish to befriend her, I must be considerate and adaptable. I must use another method of pranking to show my affection. One that is not so startling.”

“I…don’t like the sound of that either.”

Rotom's eyes glinted gleefully.

With a crackle of electricity, he disappeared.

“Oh no. Rotom, where did you go? Ro-“

Suddenly she heard some buzzing and dialing noises from the Melemele end of the call, followed by the tinny sound of Kukui’s voice mail.

“Alola! You’ve reached Kukui! Ya know what to do at the beep! Yeah!”

Beeeeep!

Burnet slowly put her hands to her mouth in shock when she heard her own voice on the other end of the call.

“Hello, Professor Kukui! My, you are an attractive example of a human male. Your form is pleasing to me, which is apparent by how often I stare at it. Additionally, I often exhibit stereotypical human flirting behaviors when I am in your presence, such as giggling, blushing, and lip biting.”

Burnet stared at her screen in horror as Rotom continued his monologue.

“Your reciprocation of my interest is blatant and includes such behaviors as staring, making frequent excuses to touch me, and utilizing a particular goofy smile that only seems to appear when I am in your presence.”

“ROTOM STOP!”

“I am madly in love with you. I wish for nothing more than to engage in human-“

“ROOOOOTOOOOMMMMMM!!!”

Beeeeeeeeppp!

Burnet breathed a sigh of relief.

“You ran out of space, you little jerk. You unbelievable son of Giratina. What in the ever-loving-“

Rotom shot back onto the screen to giggle at Burnet before disconnecting the call.

She started lightly bashing her head on her desk.

“It’s not even ten. It’s not even ten and I’m already dealing with this. I haven't even had my third coffee yet. I haven't even scheduled the staff meetings for the week yet. I haven't even analyzed last week's data yet. I haven't-“

Her phone started ringing.

She glanced at the incoming call's contact picture.

"...oh no." 

She turned bright red.

She answered on speaker with a quick tap before shoving her face in her hands.

“I’M SORRY! I’M SORRY FOR THE VOICEMAIL! IT WASN’T-“

“Hey, honey.”

Kukui’s uncharacteristically shy voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Umm, before you get too excited, that was Rotom. Pranking us,” She quickly explained, her face still red.

“Oh, I know. He found that voice modulation app yesterday. He’s been having a blast playing with it. I figured it out right away. Err…it’s just…”

He laughed sheepishly.

“Hearing all that flirting in your voice was really…nice. Even if it was a little bit…strangely worded.”

Burnet turned even redder.

“Umm…"

“Err. And it just made me wanna hear you. For real,” he laughed. "I...really like your voice." 

Burnet’s face hit her desk again, this time gently, so she could bury her red face in her arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short one today, but hey, at least I finally updated! If you're looking for other stuff to read, I've recently posted some other stories that belong in the canon I've been developing. Check 'em out on my dashboard if you want! 
> 
> Enjoy! And thanks for reading!


	16. The Battle Royal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the franchise, boy, I'm shinin' now!  
> You can't see me, my time is now!

_“That little jerk of a poltergeist…if he wasn’t so friendly, I’d be furious at him.”_

Burnet sighed as she strolled along the path.

_ "...freaking Rotom."  _

She stared up at the green leaves, watching as they shivered and blew in the humid breeze. 

The road widened, and she started passing more and more people. 

She took a northerly turn and stared curiously down a paved road, which was bustling with activity. 

_“Let’s see…north goes to the ranch. Let’s go down here!”_

As she wandered down the busy road and enjoyed the evening air, she curiously turned her head back and forth, taking in the sights as she clutched her bag’s strap.

_“This is a nice place. And it smells like fair food! And flowers! Look at that fountain! And that oricorio! And that huge building!…”_

She walked up to the brightly lit arena, craning her neck to take it in.

_“Alright. I’ll bite.”_

She entered the glass doors and slipped into a crowded lobby.

A box office was selling tickets, a few stands were selling food, and an usher was handling a long line of excited patrons. 

Burnet stealthily grabbed a yellow flier off of a rack and scanned it.

 

**TONIGHT! FOUR OF ALOLA’S TOUGHEST OPPONENTS ENTER THE ARENA, BUT ONLY ONE WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS! WHICH OF THESE MASKED CHAMPIONS WILL TAKE THE BELT???**

 

A monochrome mosaic of three trainers were splashed directly below the headline.

A woman with long pale hair and a dark, furry outfit… 

An older man with a bushy mustache and a short, spiky ponytail… 

A woman with short dark hair, pale lipstick, and a flirtatious smirk… 

A mysterious silhouette to round out the diamond…

In five minutes she had a ticket, and was cautiously settling into her seat.

She shyly stared around the arena and watched the seats fill up. 

To her relief she was near the back, and didn’t have many neighbors. 

Just as she breathed a small relaxed sigh, the lights snapped off.

 

** “LADIES, GENTLEMEN, BOTH, AND NEITHER! WELCOME TO THE BATTLE ROYAL DOME!!!” **

 

The lights blasted on, colorful and intense as they spun and danced in the air.

The crowd exploded.

 

** “AND NOW, YOUR OPPONENTS FOR THE EVENING! IN THE RED CORNER, AT A SOLID FIVE FOOT EIGHT, WE HAVE OUR LADY IN ROBES! GIVE IT UP FOR THE BLOOOOOOONDE BOOOOOOOMBSHEEEEEEEEELL!” **

 

A burst of smoke and a bright red glow illuminated the far right corner of the arena, silhouetting a tall, thin figure. 

A dramatic orchestral song blasted over the speakers as the woman stepped out of the smoke and made her way down the catwalk. 

She slowly strutted, her floor length coat brushing the ground and fluttering gently behind her as she entered the ring. A domino mask obscured her eyes as she smiled at the deafening crowd and posed with her hand on her hip.

 

** NEXT IN TONIGHT’S MATCHUP! IN THE BLUE CORNER, AT FIVE FOOT SEVEN, HE’S HERE TO GIVE HIS OPPONENTS AN ALL-OUT PUMMELING! IT’S EVERYONE’S FAVORITE FIGHTING GRANDPA! MAKE SOME NOISE FOR OLD MAN PAAAIIINNNNNNN! **

 

A solidly built man flexed, the smoke and lights throwing him into relief as he strutted his way to the blue corner, stomping and showing off as he went. As his music faded, the next opponent’s silhouette shone in the yellow corner.

 

** “WILL CONTESTANT NUMBER THREE PLEASE MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE RING! LAST CALL FOR CONTESTANT NUMBER THREE! WE’RE LOOKING FOR OUR ROCK TYPE MAVEN, OUR PRECIOUS GEMSTONE! IT’S LAST WEEK’S CHAMPION; IT’S HEEEEEEAAAAAAAART BREEEEEEAAAAAAKER!”  **

 

A curvy woman strode out, swinging her hips as she blew kisses at the crowd. She stopped to kiss a young woman’s hand, who screamed in exhilaration and had to be supported by her two friends. 

The dramatic music faded, and the lights shot to the fourth corner.

 

** “AND FINALLY…WELL, I SUPPOSE THAT’S ALL FOR TONIGHT! UNLESS…” **

 

The lights dimmed, plunging the whole stadium into darkness.

 

**“OH MY GOODNESS! COULD IT BE…”**

 

A handful of fans started screaming and cheering in the near silence. 

A light melody started playing, and the stadium practically exploded.

 

** “IT’S HIM! HE’S RETURNED TO THE RING! I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS!!!” **

 

The lights flashed back on, and a grinning masked man was standing in the green corner. 

The cheers became even more deafening.

 

** "THE MASKED ROYAL HAS RETURNED TO THE RING!!!" **

 

Burnet could only stare with her mouth open as The Masked Royal smirked cockily and raised an eyebrow. 

He pointed at the ring, frowning at his three opponents, and turned his open palm upwards. 

He flicked his hand in a clear ‘bring it on’ taunt.

The crowd absolutely lost it.

...and so did Burnet.

 

* * *

  

A dazed Burnet made her way out of the arena, her hands clutching her flier, her face flushed. 

_“That…was…so…cool…”_

She giggled to herself and pressed the paper to her chest. 

_“Wow. That was dramatic and fun and…”_

She sighed and grinned. 

_“I’m glad he won! I was kinda rooting for him.”_

A small crowd of fangirls and fanboys rushed by her, screaming their heads off. 

She looked up curiously and froze.

The Masked Royal was hovering at the foot of the lobby staircase, signing autographs and shaking hands. 

Burnet felt her face turn hot as she ducked her head and made her way to the exit. 

“HEY! YOU WITH THE WHITE HAIR AND GREEN HEADBAND!”

Green flats screeched to a halt on the shiny floor. 

She silently pointed at her chest and mouthed “Me?”

“YEAH, YOU!” 

The Royal beckoned her with his finger.

Almost in a trance, Burnet walked over, her knees shaking a bit. 

She slowed to a stop at the stairs, her pamphlet trembling in her sweaty hands. 

“Thanks for coming! Aww, you were all alone? Hope you at least had fun.” 

She silently nodded, her knees shaking even more at his husky voice. 

“It…was…great…”

“First time?” 

“Uh-huh.”

He grinned and rested both elbows on the railing, leaning towards her.

“Were ya rooting for me?”

“Uh-huh.”

A friendly laugh, that for some reason eased her nervous stomach, made her glance up. 

He was smiling down at her, his eyes soft under his mask’s harsh eyebrows.

_ "How am I keeping eye contact with him? That's usually impossible with anyone, except for..."  _

"Oh hey, nice ring! Ya married?" 

"Umm...engaged."

He laughed again. 

"Well, whoever they are, they're lucky!" 

"No, I'm the lucky one," Burnet protested as she turned a little red. "My fiancé's the most incredible person I've ever met. He's amazing."

"Uhh...wow. Dang."

_ "Did his voice just crack?..." _

"...that's hella sweet. I'm sure he feels the same way."

Burnet giggled behind her hand as The Royal grinned down at her, his eyes crinkling warmly. 

His eyes swept to the flier crushed in her fist. 

“Hey, gimme that thing for a sec!” he said, holding out his hand.

Burnet shakily handed over the paper, mentally cursing her sweaty palms. 

With a few quick strokes of his marker, he handed the flier back to her. 

“There! You needed a souvenir, yeah? Anyway, glad you had a good time!” 

He winked.

_ "ABORT MISSION."  _

Burnet bolted for the exit, a shouted "Thank you!" tossed over her shoulder as she flew through the door.

The fresh night air blew on her face as she jogged across the promenade. 

_ "Wow...wow...wow...I can't wait to tell Kukui about this..." _

She sank onto a bench near the large fountain, her knees still knocking together a little. 

She unfolded the flier...

[Image: A photograph of a yellow piece of paper, which says "To my new favorite fan...MR." It is accompanied by a small scribble of The Masked Royal.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I had way too much fun writing this.
> 
> WAY too much fun.
> 
> Anyway, big stuff's happening in future chapters. We're getting to the end here. And you can probably guess what's coming at the end...
> 
> Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!


	17. Pendulums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is dramatic irony, nervous breakdowns, and a startling revelation. 
> 
> (Also a missed opportunity for a sexy saxophone solo, which I 100 percent would have included if this was one of my voice acting projects).

“…and then he signed this for me!” 

Kukui laughed as Burnet eagerly shoved a yellow piece of paper at her laptop's camera. 

“Woo, look at that! You’re his favorite fan!”

“I know! I can’t believe it! He was so cool! And so nice!”

The paper landed on Burnet's comforter as she cuddled on her small bed, the light on her nightstand softly illuminating the tiny bedroom in the cozy apartment directly below her lab. 

"I still can't believe he picked me out of the crowd. Me! Of all people! It was so sweet of him!" 

Kukui turned a little red.

“Ha, sounds like he was flirting with you!”

“No, I’m sure he’s nice to everyone.” 

“I’m just sayin’! It’s not out of the realm of possibility!” 

“Oh come on!!!”

“You’re really cute! I’M JUST SAYIN’!” 

“Kukui!!!”

“…and really hot.”

“Stop it!” 

Kukui’s voice dropped to a low purr. 

“I bet you’re just his type, yeah? A smart, cute, white-haired scientist with an amazing butt? Mmm, nice.”

“KUKUI!” 

“…he was totally flirting with you, cutie.”

Burnet shoved her red face in her hands and giggled helplessly at her fiancé as she shyly peeked at his wide grin through her fingers. 

They giggled together for a moment, eyes shining at each other through their computer screens.

“…hey, I just had a great idea. We should go to a match together! For a date!” 

Kukui coughed.

“…I’m not really into the battle royal format. Don’t wanna harsh your buzz while you’re trying to have a good time! Plus it’s on an inconvenient day. Always a Thursday.”

He laughed, smoothly running a hand through his hair as he winked at his fiancé. 

“That’s the day I run that newbie trainer workshop. Go to as many matches as you want, though! Who knows! I might be able to make one eventually, yeah?”

“…how do you know they’re always on a Thursday? Also, aren’t your workshops usually earlier in the aftern-”

“Woo, I just remembered that Molayne’s into battle royals, yeah! Maybe he’ll wanna go with ya!” 

“That’d be fun, actually! I’ve been meaning to hang out with him!”

Burnet stuck out her tongue teasingly. 

“…is he team Royal?” 

“…yeah! He is!” 

“Good! We only cheer for The Masked Royal in this holy house.” 

Burnet bounced out from under her comforter and grinned at Kukui excitedly. 

“Hey, in other news, check this out!”

She grabbed her tablet off of the nightstand and started eagerly babbling about an experiment she conducted earlier in the week.

But Kukui’s eyes were frozen on her chest...

...and the oversized t-shirt she was wearing as pajamas... 

…which had a familiar yellow, red, blue, and green logo screen-printed on the front. 

He almost choked.

“…anyway, then we…oh, the shirt! Merch. Heh.”

Burnet posed, letting the wide collar slowly slide down her shoulder while her opposite hand mussed up her thick hair.  

She stared at Kukui, her shoulder bare to the collarbone, her hand in her messy hair, her eyes soft and inviting...

"...do you like it?" 

She burst out laughing. 

"Ahaha! Your face! Too easy!"

Kukui gave her a slightly shaky laugh and thumbs up. 

“Hell yeah! Looks…looks incredible on ya.”

 

* * *

 

Weeks later, Burnet was once again wearing the oversized Royal shirt. Only this time, it served as a coverup for a bathing suit.

And instead of a bed, she was sprawled on a blanket next to Kukui.

The sand under the blanket was hot against her back, the sun bright and unrelenting, the breeze light and barely able to contend with the humid air…

She sighed and twitched nervously.

_ "Gotta read that file. Gotta brief Maple so she can handle things while I'm gone. Gotta-" _

“How much longer do we have to lie here?”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t wanna do, but…err…maybe you should relax for a bit. You nearly had a nervous breakdown this morning.”

“I’m fine.” 

“…over coffee.”

“It wasn’t-“

“You cried because you were stressed out. Over coffee. We had half a bag of beans left, and you were worried we were gonna run out.”

“…it was a valid concern.” 

“I offered to go down the road to get some more, and the next thing I know you’re sobbing in my arms.”

“It was really nice of you.”

“But…you do little nice things for me all the time. You deserve nice things too, honey.” 

Burnet choked out a quiet, overwhelmed sob.

Kukui rolled over to pull her into a hug.

“Aww! Shh, it’s okay…but see?”

He kissed the top of her head and gently rubbed her back. 

“We’re both getting really stressed. We should take the whole day off. I don’t wanna boss you around, but…if you can take the day off, I think you should. I think we both need it. Badly.”

Burnet hiccuped sloppily. 

“O-okay.”

Kukui gave her a brilliant smile. 

“Beach now, then can I take my cute fiancé to a nice restaurant for dinner? And give her a long back rub before bed?”

Burnet laughed softly.

“Okay.”

“Take a nap in the shade if you want. Or read. Just…anything relaxing that you want. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Kukui wiggled next to her.

“And in the meantime, I wanna snuggle you and nap. That cool?”

“Yep.”

Kukui smiled happily and nuzzled his nose against her neck, closing his eyes dreamily. 

“Yeeeeah.” 

In seconds, he was fast asleep. 

Burnet smiled, her eyelashes fluttering as she closed her eyes, her hands going limp on her stomach as she drifted on the edge of losing consciousness… 

She jolted, nearly sending Kukui flying into the sand. 

“OH HOLY ARCEUS.” 

“WHAT?!”

“IT’S SUNDAY.” 

“Umm, yeah?”

“DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THAT MEANS?” 

“Uhh…it’s a new week?” 

“Kukui, we’re picking up Juniper and Fennel at the airport on Wednesday.” 

“Yeah?” 

“We’re showing Ilima how to house-sit on Thursday.”

“…yeah?”

“WE’RE LEAVING THE HOUSE ON FRIDAY. WE’RE CHECKING IN TO THE HOTEL ON FRIDAY. THE REHEARSAL AND PARTY ARE BOTH. ON. FRIDAY.”

“…oh.”

“KUKUI...” 

She leaned in close to his face, her eyes wide and full of panic. 

Her ring swung gently on its chain in the space between their chests, a silent pendulum ticking away at each second as Burnet's fingers dug into the hot sand. 

“...WE'RE GETTING MARRIED THIS WEEK.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH SNAP, I CAN'T BELIEVE I FINALLY UPDATED AGAIN. I don't think it's ever been this long between updates?
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading! I appreciate the kudos and comments so much! Also, I keep meaning to mention this, but if you'd like to follow me or shoot me a message elsewhere, you can find a link to my Tumblr on my profile. 
> 
> Hopefully the next update will be sooner rather than later! Have a good week, and thanks again for reading!


	18. The Last Week: Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Commence low-grade wedding panic.

“How are we on stufful chow?” 

“Fine."

"We got enough for the luvdiscs, yeah?” 

“I don't have it on the list, but I think we have one bag left.”

“Yeah, in that case let’s nab an extra.”

“Sure. Is Rocky all set?”

“CRUD! NO! KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMEONE!” 

Kukui sprinted off, leaving Burnet with a full shopping cart in the middle of an aisle full of various bags and jars of pokémon food.

She sighed and tossed a package of stufful treats into the cart. 

_“There. Now if they give Ilima a hard time, he can bribe them.”_

Kukui appeared at the head of the isle with a huge bag over his shoulder, and a slightly wild look in his eyes.

“Okay, the freeloaders are all taken care of. What should we leave for Ilima? Snacks? We need to remember to take out cash to pay him and-“ 

“Yes, don’t worry, we’ll get cash. He’ll be fine. The house is already full of snacks and easy meals.”

Kukui drummed his fingers on the cart nervously. 

“Okay. Is the loft clean?” 

“Spotless.” 

“We still need to vacuum. And-“

Burnet slid her hand onto Kukui’s twitching fingers and squeezed.

“Shhhh. Breathe. We’re in good shape.” 

Kukui let out a long breath. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I think it’s my turn to freak the heck out…”

“Shhhh.”

Burnet rose onto tiptoes and planted a small kiss on Kukui’s cheek. 

“Let me double check the list. Then we can go home and do a little packing and last minute cleaning. There’s not much left to do, so we’ll get it done fast and relax this evening. Okay?” 

Kukui stared at her.

His shoulders relaxed slightly. 

“Alright.”

Burnet quickly checked the shopping list on her phone, her other hand hovering protectively on Kukui’s lower back. 

“We’re good! Let’s go!” 

She grinned at him, grabbed the cart, and sped off towards the registers. 

Her green flats squeaked on the tiled floor, creating a symphony with the squealing cart as she flew out of the aisle. 

More tension left Kukui’s shoulders as he grinned and sprinted after her.

 

* * *

 

Burnet made a small face as she dusted the inside of her favorite shoes with a sweet smelling powder.

“Ugh. Gross.” 

She stuck out her tongue and shook the green flats to knock the powder all the way to the toes. 

Behind her back, Kukui was tossing a few pairs of shorts and some boxers into a large duffle-bag.

He wordlessly patted her fluffy hair and slid past her to get to the master bath.

Burnet glanced up, smiled, and continued brushing sand off of her shoes. 

Kukui returned with a handful of toiletries, which he also shoved into the bag.

He zipped it up and brushed his hands together.

“All done.”

“Wow, really? Oh, wait…not much to pack, huh?” 

Kukui grinned. 

“Nope! Oh, wait, I do have one more thing!” 

He slid to the closet and pulled out a long black bag. 

“Oh. Right,” Burnet said, staring at it with wide eyes. 

“Bet ya can’t wait to see me in this, yeah?” Kukui laughed, posing with the bag draped over his front.

“Yes. A plain black garment bag will make you look so handsome.”

They giggled. 

“What time’s the SS Scientific’s flight coming in?” Kukui asked, gently hanging the bag in a prominent spot where it wouldn’t be forgotten. 

“Three PM.” 

“Cool. What about your family?” 

Burnet sighed. 

“Nine AM Thursday. I basically told them we’re busy with the house-sitter, and I’d see them at the rehearsal.” 

Kukui winced and nodded. 

“Alright.”

“I need to stay sane somehow.” 

“I know, I know! Do what ya need to do! But speaking of the rehearsal and party? That all set?”

“Your parents are handling the rehearsal and dinner. Olivia and Molayne are handling the party. I don’t think we need to do anything but show up.” 

“Umm…beyond that? Anything else we need to do today?” 

Burnet tiredly glanced up at her fiancé. 

“Yep. Sleep.” 

They passed out cold in a tangle of limbs on top of the comforter, still in their clothes.

 

* * *

 

Juniper flew out of the gate, an exhausted Fennel clinging to her hand. They screeched to a halt on the slippery tile floor, swiveling their heads back and forth in perfect unison.

“DO YA SEE THEM?”

“NO, I-OH! OH! OH MY GOSH, OVER THERE!” 

“HOLY. EFFING. CRAP. LOOK, BABE! A PAIR OF WILD NERDS APPEARED!” 

A five foot nine freight train in a lab coat and mini skirt, trailed by her shrieking girlfriend, barreled at Kukui and Burnet with the force of a herd of tauros.

She slammed into them, shrieking lightly as she grabbed her two friends, clutching one under each arm. 

“DANG, BURNET! YOU ACTUALLY LOOK RELAXED. AND KUKUI STILL ISN’T WEARING A SHIRT. OH HEY, ROCKY! WHO’S A GOOD BOY??? LEARN ANY NEW MOVES? HOW ARE YOUR STATS?” 

Fennel jumped on the professor pile, smooching her friends on their cheeks. 

“Yay! I wanna see the ocean! I can smell it already! And flowers! Ooh, you guys got us flowers???” 

A few minutes later, Fennel and Juniper stepped out of the airport, hand-in-hand, flower garlands around their necks, and matching awed expressions on their faces.

“Dang. Kukui. You gotta show me some alolan forms,” Juniper whispered, staring side to side as she took in the greenery. “I wanna run some experiments in your lab, too. Obviously not on this trip, but I have one in mind to test the difference between a unovan and alolan vulpix's attacks. Figured your place would be perfect for that.” 

Kukui’s eyes lit up. 

“Oh, to like, see if an equivalent fire and ice move have similar attack strength across different forms?!” 

“Well, yeah. I wanna see if I can discover how a fire attack became an ice attack. It might uncover something interesting about the origins of moves in general.”

“Dude. Juniper. Yeah. You said moves and I am already there.” 

They continued chatting about Juniper’s ideas as they meandered down the road, dragging bags along as they enjoyed the fresh air.

Fennel caught Burnet’s eye and smirked. 

“ANYWAY, DREAMS, DIMENSIONS, BLAH BLAH BLAH!”

Burnet started laughing. 

“Go Dream Team!” they chanted, high-fiving each other as they walked.

Juniper shot them a huge grin over her shoulder.

“Yeah, the two of you are smarty-pants. We know.” 

Fennel puffed out her chest and grinned. 

“And don’t you forget it!”

“Nah, I never forget Burnet’s smarter than me. Gotta face that fact every time she brings up her research,” Kukui laughed. 

“I’m not smarter than you! I’m in a different discipline! Of course that stuff’s gonna go over your head!”

“I’m tryin’ to pay ya a compliment here!”

“It’s not a compliment if you’re putting yourself down! Listen, buddy, we’re both professors. You’re wicked smart. Deal with it.” 

Burnet flicked her sunglasses over her eyes and widened her arms in a “come at me, bro” posture. 

Kukui burst out laughing. 

“Yeah, fine. You win!”

“TKO, TKO,” Juniper started chanting under her breath. 

After helping Juniper and Fennel settle in at Burnet’s apartment, they all wound up at the traditional post-airport KoniKoni restaurant, sipping on large drinks and laughing as they caught up.

 

* * *

 

 Early next morning, while Burnet and Kukui were in the middle of showing Ilima where the rockruff food was stored, Burnet’s phone started ringing. 

“Oop. Juniper. Be right back,” she said, glancing at the display. 

She took the call on the front porch, where the early morning sea breeze was unusually refreshing.

“Heyyyy,” she drawled, leaning on the railing and shooting a v-sign at the camera. “Sleep okay?”

“Heyyyy,” Juniper drawled right back, imitating her friend’s tone perfectly. “Yeah, your apartment’s super cozy. We just got back from one of the best breakfasts of our lives.” 

“Ooooh!” 

“Anyway…you doing anything this afternoon?” Juniper asked casually, glancing at her nails in an effort to look even more casual. 

Burnet laughed.

“Umm…showing our house sitter around the lab? Avoiding my family for as long as I can? Double-checking my packed bags? Picking up the dress?” 

“Nice. Your lab closes at six, right? And you’ll be finished with everything by fiveish, right?” 

“…y-yes?” 

“You don’t have any plans with Kukui, right?” 

“No. He’s hanging out with Molayne and Olivia.” 

“Alrighty! You have a charizard pickup at five-thirty. Be ready to go.”

“Wait, what?! I thought you and Fennel were gonna go to the beach together.”

Juniper grinned evilly. 

“Yes, but you have an appointment with us afterwards. In your apartment.” 

“Oh…?”

Burnet’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. 

Fennel’s friendly face butted in over Juniper’s shoulder. 

“It’s a small surprise party! Just us, drinks, and documentaries! Everything you like!” 

Burnet’s eyes narrowed. 

“…just us?” 

“No strangers, and no one you wouldn’t want to see! Promise!” Fennel giggled. 

Burnet’s eyes narrowed even more.

“We’re already having a big party on Friday. We don't need a second wild bash,” Juniper soothed. “Seriously. This one’s only for people you’re super close to.” 

Burnet's eyes finally relaxed. 

“Okay. Sounds fun!”

 

* * *

 

 Later that afternoon, Burnet was carefully rationing sips of a bright green drink in her apartment, dressed comfortably, and so relaxed she felt like she was going to melt into her plush seat.

She lifted her legs to drape over both Juniper’s and Fennel’s as they all slumped together on the couch, their faces various degrees of exhausted but happy.

They silently clinked their drinks and started the documentary binge.

After two shows, Juniper started stealthily checking the time on her watch. 

Burnet glanced at her and worriedly took another sip of her drink. 

_“They wouldn’t. They’re planning something, but they know better…”_

After the fifth time check, Juniper slowly slid out from under Burnet’s legs and slunk into the kitchen.

She returned with a wooden chair, and plopped it in the middle of the tiny living room space, directly on the circular rug. 

"Hey, Burnet ! Sit! We have a surprise for you!”

"Why? What are you planning?"

Juniper fluttered her eyelashes. 

"Nothing bad. It's a good surprise. Promise." 

Burnet cautiously sat in the chair, adjusting the shoulder of her tunic top. She stared up at Juniper and cocked her head suspiciously.

Juniper held up a finger and typed away on her phone, obviously texting someone. 

A quiet echoey ding rang in the small room. 

Fennel caught Burnet’s eyes and smirked.

“Oh! Was that the elevator…?”

"Guys. What's going on?" 

"Patience!"

Juniper checked her phone one last time. 

She slowly turned to Burnet and grinned a huge predatory smile. 

“Hey…remember how we wanted to get you some…entertainment before the wedding?” 

Burnet’s eyes narrowed. 

“…yes?” 

“Remember how you turned it down immediately?”

Burnet's eyes narrowed even more.

“…yes.” 

“Remember how sad and distraught we were that you wouldn't let us pay someone to slap on a lab coat, put on a sexy mad scientist persona, and strip in your lap?” 

“…you weren’t sad. It was barely even a conversation! What-“ 

“…or a wrestler! Remember we also offered a sexy wrestler?”

“Ahh yes, thank you, Fennel.” 

“GUYS.”

“We were SO sad.” 

“…AUREA.”

**Knock. Knock.**

“Why, who could that be? Are we expecting anyone?” Fennel gasped theatrically. 

Burnet’s eyes widened in horror. 

“OH, NO. NO. NO NO NO. Guys. I told you! I’m not comfortable with having some strange guy-” 

“Who says it’d be a strange guy?”

“Or a strange anyone! Ha! Semantics! Guys, I’m really uncomfortable.”

“Something tells me you’ll be okay with this.” 

“Guys. Seriously.”

Fennel arched her eyebrow and grinned.

“Trust. Us.” 

Burnet slowly facepalmed, hiding her face in her hands and bending until she was hidden under her hair and practically hunched over in her lap.

“ARGHHHH!”

The apartment door opened with a slow creak. 

“The bride’s over there! She’s feeling shy, so go easy on her!” Juniper loudly cackled as she slipped into the hallway with Fennel hot on her tail. “We’re getting dinner! Be back in an hour to continue the festivities!”

The door clicked shut.

Heavy footsteps tapped agonizingly slowly across the hardwood floor towards Burnet's chair, mirroring her pounding heart… 

She huffed in a squeaky voice. 

“Holy Arceus. This is so awkward. Umm…I appreciate what my friends were trying to do here, but I’m not interested in…this. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience! It’s not your fault! I’ll make sure they pay you for the trouble! Wait, hold on. Why did they leave?…”

“Aww, bummer! You’re really cute.”

Burnet nearly fell out of the chair.

“Holy crap, oh no, no, no, no, I can’t deal with this, how the hell did they get The Masked Royal-oh, screw it. HI PLEASE DON'T STRIP FOR ME BUT IT'S VERY NICE TO MEET YOU AGAIN I’M SUCH A HUGE FAN THANKS SO MUCH FOR THAT AUTOGRA-“

“Bahaha! Who's The Masked Royal?!” 

Burnet slowly looked up, her huge eyes peeking through her fingers…

All the blood drained from her tan face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *SLIDES IN MONTHS LATER WITH A FRESH CHAPTER HOT OFF THE PRESSES*
> 
> It's great to be back!
> 
> Some notes: 
> 
> 1) I accidentally slipped some New England slang into Burnet's dialogue. Since Unova is supposed to be the greater New York/Northeast area, I decided to just leave it.  
> 2) Major thanks to Bunnyqueengrace on Tumblr for reblogging one of those "WRITERS: STOP NOW AND WRITE A SENTENCE IN YOUR CURRENT STORY!" posts. It's the reason we have a chapter today!  
> 3) Cliffhangers only suck when the resolution is ages away. You only have to wait for this weekend. c: 
> 
> Is that it? Yes, I think so. Anyway, thanks for reading! Have a great friday!


	19. The Last Week: Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOO DREEEEEAAAMMM WEAVER

Burnet gasped, staring up into her fiancé’s wide grin.

“You…are…what?!” she choked, covering her mouth with her hands. 

_“Is that why I like The Masked Royal so much? Because he reminds me of-oh, that suddenly makes so much sense.“_

Kukui grinned and leaned in close, completely shirtless and loose hair hanging to his shoulders. 

“Your buddies hired me to keep you company,” he murmured seductively. “Are ya sure you don’t want me to entertain ya? There’s no one else here. You don’t haveta be shy.” 

He slowly put his finger under Burnet’s chin and tipped it up, gently encouraging her to look into his face.

She gripped the seat of her chair and blinked owlishly. 

“Woo. They didn’t tell me you were this cute,” he sighed, smiling even harder. “I’d even work pro bono for ya. Damn, girl. Your fiancé’s a lucky guy.”

Burnet laughed and covered her face.

“Holy crap. I don’t know how to deal with this.” 

Kukui put a comforting hand on her shoulder and leaned in close to whisper in her ear.

“If you’re not okay with this, we can just play video games instead, yeah?”

Burnet glanced at him and giggled nervously. 

“I can’t believe my friends hired a stripper.”

"I also give great cuddles."

He wiggled a bit, showing off for her.

“It’s okay, gorgeous. Whatever you're in the mood for. I’ll take good care of ya. I'm all yours for the next hour.” 

Burnet’s eyes involuntarily trailed up and down Kukui’s chest in several unsubtle passes.

“Did you…slather on some oil?”

Kukui grinned. 

“And…is that glitter?!” 

He grinned wider. 

He pulled a small boombox out from behind his back. 

“Oh…holy…crap.”

He slowly and dramatically pressed the play button. 

_ I've just closed my eyes again… _

_ Climbed aboard the dream weaver train… _

Burnet shrieked with laughter.

 

* * *

 

Juniper knocked, waited a few seconds, and fell through the door, with Fennel hot on her tail. 

“OOPS! OH NO! SORRY FOR BARGING IN! WE-“

She folded her arms and tilted her head. 

Burnet and Kukui slowly turned their heads to look at the door, their movements in perfect sync. 

They were sitting on the couch, Burnet’s legs swung over Kukui’s lap.

“Hey. Want in on the next race?” Burnet asked, waving around a controller. "One more round before Kukui has to leave?"

“Awww, you didn’t want to have some fun while we were gone?” Fennel asked, sticking her tongue out playfully. 

“Whatcha mean? We’re having a blast!” Burnet laughed, wiggling her legs against Kukui. 

“Yeah, maybe you are! I haven’t won a single race,” Kukui snorted good-naturedly. 

“That’s because you thought it was a good idea to grease yourself up before playing a video game, genius.” 

They play wrestled for a second before a laughing Kukui got up to help Juniper find extra controllers in the other room.

As Fennel bounced onto the couch, she leaned in to whisper in Burnet’s ear. 

“Hopefully you aren't upset. It was actually Kukui’s idea.” 

Burnet grinned at her.

“No, it was fine! You were right. I was totally okay with it.” 

“Was it fun?”

“Yeah, I had a good time!” 

She started turning a little red. 

Fennel glanced at Burnet and noticed a small dusting of glitter on her shoulder. 

“A really good time?” 

“Err…” 

“I said you were gonna end up…you know. Juniper said you weren’t.”

She waggled her eyebrows. 

“We actually have a little bet riding on this.”

Burnet smothered a loud snort with her hand. 

“Really?” 

“Oh yes. Juniper was convinced you’d be too shy. I said, and I quote, 'She's not that shy, babe. And besides, Kukui is basically...' I think I said something like...Burnetnip?” 

Burnet’s shoulders hunched sheepishly. 

“Congratulations on your win.” 

Fennel let out a happy, triumphant shriek. 

“YOU OWE ME A BACK RUB, LOSER!” she yelled into the other room. 

“Aww man!” 

A second later, Burnet and Fennel heard Juniper give Kukui what was unmistakably a high five. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, this was so much fun to write. Hopefully it was entertaining to read too! 
> 
> Have a great week! If you do the Halloween thing, have fun dressing up and eating way too much candy!


	20. The Last Week: Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever closer...

_Baaaaaaah daaaaah!_

_Baaaaaaah dah!_

_Baaaaaaah daaaaah!_

_Baaaaaah dah!_

 

With an ungraceful snort, Burnet shook awake, frantically pawing for her phone, her eyes still shut and her head under a blanket. 

She swore softly and smacked at the screen until a lucky tap turned off the alarm. 

A long groan and a slow rise from the couch, complete with a theatrical yawn and stretch, completed her awakening. 

“Got coffee in here!” a voice shouted from the kitchenette, its tone far too chipper for the early morning. 

“Thanks Aurea,” Burnet grumbled.

A small zombie in a thin light blue hoodie slumped into the kitchen and fell into a chair, her head thunking onto the table with a sickening hollow thud. 

Juniper wordlessly shoved a mug of coffee in front of her and continued reading the news on her phone. 

As Burnet guzzled her coffee, another groaning zombie slumped into the room. They were also immediately presented with caffeine. 

“I don’t know what I’d do without the early birds in my life,” Burnet grumbled. 

“Truth,” Fennel groaned, appreciatively sipping at her tea. 

Juniper winked and sipped her coffee.

“Get pumped, guys. Lots to do today.”

Burnet’s stomach twisted nervously.

“It’s Friday…” she mumbled. “Oh holy crap. It’s Friday.” 

“You’re gonna be a married woman tomorrow!” 

“Holy crap.”

Burnet stared at her coffee with wide eyes. 

She slowly picked it up and started guzzling it with fervor. 

Fennel followed suit. 

“Take a fuckin’ sip, babes,” Juniper drawled, leaning back in her chair. “We’re in for a wild ride.” 

 

* * *

 

A few hours later, and the three scientists were waiting in front of Burnet’s lab, sitting on the stone wall in a neat row.

They played I Spy until a car slowly pulled up to the curb. 

A solidly-built passenger dove out of the vehicle and rushed them, making a beeline for the white-haired woman at the end of the row. 

“READY TO MARRY THE GIRL OF YOUR DREAMS, LOVER BOY?” Juniper roared, pumping her fist.

"HECK YEAH! C'MERE, HONEY!"

Kukui plucked Burnet off of the wall and spun her around a few times before putting her down and turning to give Fennel a long hug. 

Burnet, still laughing and a little dizzy, glanced at Juniper. 

…who looked like she had just seen a ghost. 

She stared at the car, her mouth hanging open in complete and utter shock.

“…who’s that!? The driver??”

Burnet scrunched up her nose and looked back and forth between the car and Juniper. 

“Olivia. She’s Akala’s Kahuna!”

“…weird question, but does she have a lycanroc partner? Or a rockruff maybe?” 

“Yeah! She’s a rock type expert. She also owns an amazing rock and gem shop across the island.”

“Holy…it’s her.”

Juniper gripped Burnet’s shoulder and gently steered her to the side so they could talk in semi-privacy while everyone else was distracted by other conversations.

Burnet snickered at Juniper’s shocked expression.

“What’s going on?” she asked in a motherly tone, tilting her sunglasses to get a better look at her friend’s face. 

Juniper shook her head.

“So my dad and I vacationed here a few times when I was a kid. To explore the volcanos. One of our hiking trips, right?”

“Right?”

“Well...the last time we visited, I met this girl. She worked the counter at this touristy rock shop. I mean, I'm sure she wouldn't remember me. I was just a dumb kid who didn't understand why she was making a zillion excuses to spend all her battle winnings on a bunch of pretty little stones. But…”

She shakily leaned towards Burnet.

She gently grabbed her friend's shoulders. 

“Dude, that girl was Olivia. She was my first crush. SHE’S THE GIRL WHO MADE ME REALIZE I’M GAY.” 

Burnet’s mouth dropped open. 

“Holy crap. Really?”

She glanced at Olivia with wide eyes. 

“Well, the good news is that she seems to get along with Fennel great.”

Juniper swung her head around. 

Olivia was out of the car, and was laughing at something with Fennel, obviously hitting it off fabulously. 

“It is the weirdest sort of cognitive dissonance to see this,” Juniper whispered, turning a little red.

“When worlds collide, huh?” 

“Yeah, seriously. WLW crowds are so fricking small.” 

Fennel turned and cheerfully started waving at Burnet and Juniper. She swung her other arm around Olivia's shoulder. 

“Hey, babe! Come meet Olivia!” 

Juniper groaned under her breath. 

“Burnet. My dear friend. If I die here today…”

“Yeah?” 

“…don’t let anyone take my stuff.”

 

* * *

 

After everyone piled into the car, Juniper turned from her seat in the middle to address the wedding party.

“ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP, NERDS. Once we get off the boat at Melemele, we're kicking this rehearsal into high gear. We don’t got a lotta time, and I dunno about y’all, but I am really fricking hungry and a big dinner’s calling my name. So efficiency is the name of the game here. From now on, we will be using code names. You can address me as Skarmory One.” 

She started pointing at the individual party members, starting with the driver.

“Olivia is ‘Been There, Done That.’” 

Olivia looked a bit confused. 

“Fennel is ‘Currently Doing That.’” 

Fennel grinned and high-fived Juniper smugly. 

Burnet is ‘It Happened Once in a Dream.’”

Burnet winked from her seat in the back. 

“Kukui, code name ‘If I Had to Pick a Dude.’” 

Kukui grinned, confused but flattered. 

Juniper critically appraised the last party member, who was in the passenger seat.

“Molayne is ‘Skarmory Two.’” 

“Oh thank Arceus.” 

“Feeling’s mutual, dude.” 

They shared a silent understanding nod as Olivia started the car and took off. 

“Babe, can we have different nicknames? I don’t like mine!”

“Yes, I agree.” 

“I want something radder, yeah!” 

Juniper threw up her arms.

“Fine! We can have super boring and predictable code names, I guess. I’m Minccino. Olivia, you’re Lycanroc. Babe, you’re Musharna. Kukui, you’re Rockruff. Molayne, you’re still Skarmory Two.”

“Perfect.”

“Wait. Who am I?” 

“Crap. Sorry, Burnet, I forgot you. Err…you’re the only one of us who doesn’t really have a battle partner. Besides Fennel, I mean. But she works with her musharna, so at least I had that to go on…uuhhh...”

Burnet good naturally rolled her eyes. 

“You’re The Dream Queen,” Kukui grinned, poking his fiancé in the side, causing her to squeak. 

“I like it!”

“That’s perfect for her!”

“Hey wait, I study dreams and dimensions too!”

Juniper lightly bashed her head on the dashboard.

“There’s like, a 30 percent chance we’re all gonna die here.”

“No wait, I know,” Kukui said, suddenly widening his eyes.

He grinned down at Burnet warmly.

“Swablu!” 

“Aww because of the hair?” 

“D’aww!” 

“Perfect.” 

“A little swablu and rockruff gettin’ married…”

“Decided.”

As everyone else started random conversations with each other, Burnet glanced up at Kukui and gave him a small sad smile. 

“Wish she could have been a part of this,” she murmured.

Kukui lightly rubbed her back.

 

* * *

 

Molayne and Olivia fell asleep on the boat, leaning against each other in a tired heap. 

Juniper and Fennel spent the ride watching for sea pokémon from the stern. 

Burnet and Kukui sat at the bow, trading off steering duties, quietly chatting through their nerves while they sailed along, propelled towards Melemele by the sea breeze. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The memeing is gonna continue in the next chapter. I am just warning you now. 
> 
> Shouldn't be long before the next update! Everything's written. I just have to do some editing. 
> 
> Oh, also, there's a blatant reference to one of my other stories at the end of this chapter. Didja catch it? 
> 
> And with that, have a great weekend! Thanks so much for reading! <3


	21. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And even closer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: This chapter contains a lot of alcohol use, and depictions of being under the influence. If you are uncomfortable with that, reading to the first page break and just skipping to the next chapter would probably be a good idea!

The rehearsal mercifully flew by in a painless flash.

Burnet barely managed to avoid getting chewed out by her mother for a multitude of sins, the most egregious of which were:

  1. Dressing casually.
  2. Wearing oversized sunglasses. 
  3. Speed-walking down the aisle. 
  4. Finger-gunning her fiancé at the altar. 
  5. Saying “Hell yeah,” when asked if she would take Kukui as her husband. 
  6. In general, not taking the affair seriously at all.



Everyone kept the laughter in check until Burnet and Kukui preformed a well-timed dab instead of kissing when they were pronounced husband and wife by a chuckling Hala.

The rehearsal done, the entire crew made their way to Hau’oli, where they had an excellent dinner.

Despite the light atmosphere of the gathering and her attempts to stay relaxed, Burnet was still on edge.

She sipped at her coffee a little tensely, her foot tapping lightly under the table. She glanced at her parents, almost like she was waiting for…

“Don’t have too much. You don’t need it,” her mother tutted.

“I’ll be fine, mom. I’m trying to enjoy myself.”

“And please, take tomorrow more seriously. Don’t run down the aisle and act ridiculous like you did this afternoon. Remember when you were little? You were off the wall. You ran everywhere. I don’t think I ever saw you actually walk. I said, ‘She’s going to run down the aisle when she gets married. It’s going to look silly.’”

_“But I was just a kid…”_

Burnet’s mother glanced at Kukui.

“Don’t you think your future wife should walk nicely?” she asked.

_“Oh…my…freaking…who the heck cares...I’m gonna lose it…”_

“I don’t think that’s anythin’ to worry about,” Kukui said, squeezing Burnet’s hand under the table. “It’s way more important for your daughter to be happy and have fun, yeah?”

Burnet’s mother silently looked away and sipped at her water, temporarily cowed.

_“Oh my gosh. Thank you, darling.”_

Burnet gratefully squeezed Kukui’s hand back.

Everyone finished dinner and dessert, and the gathering headed to the venue hotel to check into their rooms and prepare for the party.

Burnet’s mother had to practically be dragged away from fretting over her daughter’s wild hair.

 

* * *

 

Kukui and Burnet walked into the hotel bar, hand in hand.

The room erupted in cheers.

“WOOOOOOOO!”

“CHEERS!”

“YEE-HAW!”

“FÉLICITATIONS!”

“CONGRATULATIONS!”

Kukui, Burnet, Juniper, Fennel, Olivia, and Molayne (and a boisterous crowd of scientists, professors, and alolan dignitaries) toasted and cheered, bashing together mugs of beer, shots, fruity drinks, and in a few cases, plain juice, cocoa, lemonade, or water.

Kukui slung his arm over Burnet’s shoulder and happily squeezed her as she stole a small sip from his bottle of cider.

A taller man with wild black hair and a half unbuttoned purple shirt slid by her to order a glass of wine at the bar.

He turned with his glass and caught Burnet’s eye.

He winked.

“You snagged quite the dream guy, no?” he said, grinning at Kukui before spinning gracefully to rejoin the crowd in the center of the dance floor.

“Thanks, cousin!” Kukui shouted after him.

Burnet giggled and gave a thumbs up in his general direction.

“Dunno who he is, but I like him! He has good taste!”

Kukui polished his fingernails on his nonexistent t-shirt and grinned at his fiancé.

“That there’s Sycamore. Junes and I know him from school. He was a guest T.A. from Kalos. Taught our evolution lecture. He’s Kalos’s regional prof now.”

“Oooh, cool!”

Burnet cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted after him.

[“My mother is from Kalos! I don’t speak much, but she spoke a little with me when I was a little girl. Her surname is Pimprenelle!”]

[“Ah, a good Kalos girl! Enchanted!”]

Sycamore returned and started speaking rapid-fire Kalosian at Burnet.

Her eyes widened and she threw up her hands in the universal sign of “TOO FAST!”

[“Too fast! Too fast, Professeur!”]

Sycamore grinned apologetically and switched back to their common language.

“My sincere apologies, Professeur Pimprenelle!”

Burnet cackled and winked at him as he bowed and rejoined the crowd.

Kukui grinned, looking back and forth between the exchange.

“It’s hella cute when you speak Kalosian. Your voice gets all high,” he said, ruffling Burnet’s fluffy hair affectionately.

She retaliated by rising to her tip toes and snatching away his hat.

They fought over it for a moment before it ended up on Burnet’s head.

“Damn! Fine!” Kukui snorted in mock annoyance, pulling his hair tie out to swing his hair in a shiny dark wave. “Guess I’ll leave the hair down tonight.”

Burnet grinned and stuck out her tongue teasingly.

“I’m not complaining.”

Kukui giggled and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Me, Molayne, and Olivia will hang here for another few hours. After that we’re gonna chill on the beach, okay?”

“Alright!”

“You sure it’s okay? Molayne really wanted to walk the beach we started our challenge on.”

Burnet smiled up at him.

“Duh. Of course it’s fine. I’ll hang out with Juniper and Fennel! And everyone else!”

“Ya super sure?”

“Of course! When I hit my limit I’ll head up to my room to relax.”

“I’ll text ya, okay?”

“Sure!”

“In the meantime…”

Suddenly, Juniper started bellowing a song.

“SO HHHHHHEEERE’S TO DOCTOR BURNET…”

Several younger scientists in the crowd started joining in.

Burnet looked down at the almost full cider with horror.

“…DOCTOR BURNET, DOCTOR BURNET! SO HEEEREEE’S TO DOCTOR BURNET, THE WORST OF THEM ALL! HER DATA IS FAULTY, AND THAT MAKES HER SALTY! SO HEEEERRREEE’S TO DOCTOR BURNET, THE WORST OF THEM ALL!”

Juniper started pumping her fist to lead the rest of the chant.

“SO DRINK UP PROFESSOR, DRINK UP PROFESSOR…”

“ARCEUS DAMN IT! IT’S NOT EVEN MINE!” Burnet yowled. “FOR FU-OKAY, FINE.”

She turned her stolen hat backwards with a steely glint in her eyes.

“…BUT ONLY BECAUSE IT’S THE EVENING BEFORE MY WEDDING AND I'M FEELING DANGEROUS.”

She sighed and started gingerly chugging at the cider as the crowd of her college friends continued chanting.

She finished it with the last of her breath and handed the empty bottle off to Kukui, turning to glare at Juniper while she aggressively wiped off her mouth with the back of her hand.

“SO HHEEERREEEE’S TO DOCTOR BURNET, THE BEST OF THEM ALL!”

Everyone cheered as Burnet grouchily flipped Juniper off.

“We’re not college kids anymore! What the heck!” she yelled.

“I’m so proud of you!”

“ALL I WANTED WAS A SMALL SIP!”

“You did it!”

“You do that again and I’ll make sure you don’t get a slice of the cake tomorrow!”

Juniper’s eyes widened.

“AWWWW, FINE, MOM!” she pouted before giving a slightly tipsy Burnet a noogie. “That means more booze for me!”

Burnet sighed apologetically up at Kukui who was doing his best to hide a smile.

“I’ll getcha another one. Sorry, honey.”

She swayed slightly and shakily leaned on the bar, waving to get the bartender’s attention.

“Careful! You’re a lightweight!” Kukui said, leaning over to steady her by the shoulder. “And you already had a small drink with dessert!”

“Hehhh, I know. That’s all I wanna have tonight. Maybe a little more later.”

“Alright! I’ll stick around until you metabolize a bit!” Kukui laughed, resting his hand on her lower back protectively.

“Thannkkssss…” she sighed, reaching over for the new cider, but missing by a few inches. “I…haven’t had this much to drink in a long time…can’t really…have too much with the meds…”

“You’ll be okay!” Kukui said, reaching over to grab the cider for her. “You didn’t have that much! And you had a big dinner!”

Burnet swayed a bit.

“Wow…you’re cute,” she gasped, looking up at Kukui.

He stifled a laugh into his drink.

“Thanks?” he coughed, grinning down at his fiancé over the bottle.

“I just remembered how cute…you’re…you’re just my type,” she said, staring at her future husband with wide eyes, as if the secrets of Ultra Space were opening up to her.

Kukui choked back laughter.

“Are you in a brutally honest buzz, cutie?”

“I had a crush on you for yeeaarrrsssss…” she whispered, leaning on a barstool with a hand. “I had a huge crush on you. It was bad. It was so bad. I liked…I mean, I like you so much. What am I talking about? I still have a crush. I have a huge crush on you.”

Kukui’s face started turning a bit red.

“And I was too much of…a coward to say anything. I suffered, Kukui.”

“Burnet reached up to gently grab the collar of his open shirt.

“I SUFFERED,” she whispered in a deep, husky voice.

Kukui could only stare into her intense eyes, his cheeks turning even more red.

She reached up on her tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek.

She missed by a mile.

“Alright, honey! Why don’t you sit down here and let me get you water and some carbs, yeah?” Kukui offered, gently easing her into the barstool.

“I like it when you call me honey,” Burnet muttered, leaning on the bar.

“And I like calling you honey!” Kukui laughed, handing her a tall glass of cool water.

“I like it because…you know,” she waggled her eyebrows up at him as she gingerly took a sip.

Kukui gave her a sheepish grin.

“Yeah, I know!”

“You knooowww!”

“Yeah! I know!”

“Because when we-“

“Yeah, honey! Shh!”

Kukui sheepishly looked over at the crowd, who didn’t seem to be listening.

“When we got it on for the first time. That’s what you called me,” Burnet quietly breathed in his ear. “After you made me scream. So hot. Do you know how intense it is to have…finally hook up with your crush, and it feels so good they make you scream?”

The rest of Kukui’s face turned a dusky burgandy.

“Woo. You’re…gonna kill me.”

“I’m sorry! I don’t mean to embarrass you!” Burnet said, staring up at him with wide eyes.

“You’re not! It’s actually kinda fun to be hit on this hard?”

“Ohhh?”

She reared up in her seat to whisper in his ear again.

“Remind me to do it more often,” she purred in a low breathy voice, gently gripping him by the shoulder.

The hairs on the back of Kukui’s neck stood on end.

_“Crap. Why does her voice gotta be so lethally sexy...Keep it together, dude, keep it together…"_

Burnet started cackling and leaned back on the stool.

“Seriously…I worry sometimes…I don’t tell you how much…enough…I need to say…”

She blinked up at him.

“How much I love you.”

Kukui’s hand froze on her shoulder.

“Sometimes I have trouble…with…I don’t say how I feel a lot of the time. But you…you’re so great. I mean, you’re the best person I know, and you’re so nice and smart and funny and hot and you make me feel funny in my stomach when you smile at me yet I’m so comfortable with you…you feel like home.”

She stared up at him and sniffled.

"I'm so glad you chose me." 

Kukui stared at her.

His hand started shaking against her shoulder.

He leaned in and gave her a long, slow hug.

“I’m in love with you too,” he whispered against her neck. "I'm always gonna be yours. As long as you choose me too." 

They both burst into tears, to the concern and dismay of the bartender.

 

* * *

 

An hour later, Burnet sat on the stool, nursing the glass of water and a small bowl of chips.

She glanced up when she heard a small excited commotion in the corner of the bar.

“Yes! Karaoke! Heck yes!” Juniper bellowed over the cheering crowd.

Burnet cackled as she helped herself to some more snacks.

“Can’t wait to hear who the first out-of-tune victim will be.”

She shoved another handful of chips into her mouth.

“EYYY! GO KUKUI!”

Burnet nearly choked.

“This one goes out to a special girl at the bar, yeah!”

“HECK YEAH IT DOES!”

A cheesy track started wafting through the excited conversations in the bar, the music and vocalist easily reaching Burnet at her seat.

_**“I’ll be your dream, I’ll be your wish, I’ll be your fantasy…”** _

Burnet’s head thunked onto the polished wooden bar.

_"At least he has a really nice singing voice..."_

 

* * *

 

Two hours later and after two full glasses of water, Burnet was much more steady, which was a good thing as she was smack dab in the middle of an argument for the ages.

“I can’t believe this! Okay, show of thumbs up or down; who here likes pinap on pizza?!”

Burnet, Kukui, Maple, and Burnet’s sister gave a thumbs up.

Fennel, Kukui’s brother, Olivia, Koa, Noni, Juniper, Molayne, Burnet’s sister’s fiancé, and Sycamore gave a thumbs down.

“Dammit! What’s wrong with you people?!” Juniper yowled. “That’s the worst thing in the world!”

“It’s delicious!!!” Burnet roared, spreading her arms aggressively. “The sweetness and tartness of the pinap compliments the salty cheese?!”

“UNBELIEVABLE.”

“She’s right, yeah? I didn’t know anyone else who liked it until I met Burnet at school!” Kukui laughed, slinging his arm over Burnet’s shoulder in solidarity. “Like, hey Molayne, remember after we finished our Akala Grand Trial? We got pizza and I made him try it, and woo! He freakin’ hated it!”

“That’s because he has actual taste buds.”

The small crowd roared in outrage as the argument reached a fever pitch. Other partiers started jumping in with their opinions. Even the bartender shouted her approval of pinap pizza across the bar.

The quarrel was a near split in the middle with slightly more against, but the great pinap war gradually petered out with agreements that halving the toppings on shared pizzas was a good way to compromise and move forward.

Kukui leaned in towards Burnet, sliding the brim of her stolen hat aside to kiss her on the forehead.

“Alright, now that’s settled I think we’re gonna bounce. We might be back later, but if we get tired we’re gonna head back to our rooms,” he whispered into her ear, gently patting her back. “You’re good now?”

“Oh yeah! Super fine!”

She demonstrated her sobriety by spreading her arms and touching her pointer fingers to her nose one at a time, easily and smoothly.

“Ha! Perf. Good work, honey!”

She grinned up at him.

“Don’t patronize me, dingus.”

He smirked at her before leaning in and subtly tapping her butt with a light smack.

“HEY!”

“Mmm yeah, nice. That’s the stuff.”

Burnet wound up to retaliate, but Kukui’s rear end was saved by a sudden appearance by Molayne.

“Come on, buddy! The clouds cleared up! It’s really nice out!” he said, leaning over to smile at the couple.

“Yeah, sounds great! Be right there!”

Kukui glanced down at Burnet and gave her a smug grin and wink.

“I’ll get you back, Professor Kukui,” she whispered as she slowly backed away, pointing two fingers at her eyes and then at him in a sweeping motion. “When you least expect it.”

Kukui laughed as he was bodily dragged off by Olivia and Molayne.

“See ya tomorrow, Professor Burnet!” he yelled, leaning in the doorway to wave frantically at her as he was pulled away.

“The next time you see this ravishing woman, she’s gonna be in a wedding gown!” Juniper yelled proudly, giving Kukui a thumbs up over Burnet’s head. “Prepare to be annihilated, you pinap-lovin’, shirt-hatin' nerd!”

Burnet waved sheepishly, laughing behind her other hand as her fiancé disappeared out the door.

 

* * *

 

Another hour later, and the party was showing no signs of stopping.

And neither was Juniper.

“EEEYYYYY! BURN IT!”

She grabbed Burnet by the shoulder and squeezed her in a sloppy sideways hug, almost knocking the snapback off of her friend’s head.

“I can’t bayleef my little girl’s getting married!” she pouted, draping her arm over Burnet’s much lower shoulder. “They grow up so faassstttttt.”

“I…I’m only a year younger than you.”

“It was just yesterday you wuz an insecure li’l nerdling and now LOOK AT YA! YOUR OWN RESEARCH LAB! PEER RESPECT! A HOT HUSBAND! HAPPINESS!” Juniper continued, becoming genuinely teary, leaning harder and harder on her shorter friend. “I’M SO PROUUUUD.”

Burnet staggered for a second under Juniper’s weight and smiled, despite herself.

“You’re so sweet. You’re a good friend, Aurea. I’m glad you’re happy too.”

“COME’RE, SWABLU.”

Juniper leaned in and gave Burnet a huge sloppy smooch on the cheek.

“Have a shot with me, burn it! Just one?”

“You already almost got me sloshed earlier, and you’re asking me to have more.”

“Just one! A lil one!”

“Fine. ONE. Because I wanna relax. But if you try to peer pressure me into more than one, I’m suplexing you into the bar.”

“I’D NEVER…PROFESSORS SHOULDN’T PEER PRESSURE. IT’S A BAD EXAMPLE TO…TO THE KIDDOS.”

“You know I’ll do it.”

“I know. You can kick my ass. I dunno, though, maybe we're even? MAYBE WE SHOULD SETTLE THIS. FORGET A BATTLE, I DON’T NEED MINCCINO TO KICK YOUR ASS. MEET ME IN THE PIT, BURN IT.”

Juniper leaned in and waggled her eyebrows in Burnet’s face.

“I’d let you kick my ass any day.”

Burnet smothered her laughter with a hand and frantically started waving across the room.

“FENNEL!!! HELP!”

“MAH GIRL’S COOL WITH IT.”

Fennel looked up from her spot across the bar and smirked, giving a thumbs up.

“IF KUKUI’S DOWN, SO AM I!” she yelled across the din.

Juniper turned to Burnet with an excited grin.

She waggled her eyebrows.

Burnet let her head flop to the wooden bar, starting to laugh despite herself.

“Aurea Juniper, if that’s a thinly veiled request for swinging, I swear to Arceus...”

“WELL, I NEVER. BABE, DID YOU HEAR THAT ASKUSATION?”

“LET’S ALL HAVE A NICE TIME, KIDS!” Fennel shouted back, practically crying with laughter into her beer. 

Burnet picked her head up off the bar and winced at the bartender, who was also starting to laugh.

“One shot of whatever, please.”

She slid some money across the bar.

“I’m gonna be dealing with these guys all day tomorrow, and I’ll need all the help I can get.”

 

* * *

 

Burnet plopped back onto what she was starting to consider her barstool.

“Hey. Can I get a small soda? Anything with caffeine?” she asked the bartender, sliding a little more money across the smooth polished wood.

“Sure, prof!”

The bartender placed the drink in front of her, a little lime green umbrella decorating the small glass.

“Hee hee. You didn’t need to decorate it.”

“It’s on the house! Consider it an early wedding present!”

“Pfftt! Thanks!”

She gently placed the umbrella aside so she could start sipping her drink.

“Thanks for being a good sport with this crowd, by the way,” she commented offhandedly. “Scientists can be a little…"

"BOSS! BOSS!"

She was interrupted by a frantic Maple, who carrying her heels in her hands.

"Do you have your tablet? Koa just got wasted and then he scribbled some stuff on a napkin, and to make a long story short I think we might have figured out a Grand Unified Theory." 

Burnet burst out laughing.

"No, only my phone. Take a picture of the napkin and text it to me. We'll save it for posterity, okay?"

"Yes! Oh my gosh, yes!" 

Maple tore off. 

"...rowdy when they get together outside of the lab.” Burnet finished, wincing with a sheepish grin.

The bartender giggled.

“You’ve all been great, actually. A little intense, but everyone’s been friendly. And tipping really well.”

“Phew. Glad to hear it. Has anyone complained about the noise?”

“Nope. We’re pretty isolated from the rest of the hotel sound-wise. And really, your wedding's taken over most of the rooms. But I’ll let ya know if I hear anything.”

“Alright!”

“Relax. You guys are fine. It’s your night. Enjoy it!”

The bartender winked and turned to help another patron down the bar.

Burnet silently toasted her, sipping at her caffeine and playing with the little green umbrella, spinning it in her fingers.

 

* * *

 

A few minutes later, her phone dinged with a text from Maple.   

> LOOK BOSSS WE DI IT 

Attached was a blurry picture of a napkin, featuring a surprisingly good drawing of Burnet, Maple, Noni, and Koa, arm-in-arm, and wearing what appeared to be large medals over their lab coats.  

> LOok! Th is is gonna be us some day!

Burnet covered her mouth and sniffled, her eyes immediately getting a little misty.  

> It definitely is, Maple.

* * *

 

After tearing up the dance floor with Juniper, Fennel, both Juniper and Fennel, Ash, Sycamore, Mulaney and his wife, her sister, Maple, Birch, Koa and Noni, and a skinny nervous professor she didn’t recognize, Burnet started to hit her limit.

She had a blast, but after a while everything started getting too bright.

Too loud.

Too overwhelming.

Burnet fought it down as long as she could, but after the fifth well-meaning person tried to pull her in for an uninvited hug, she had enough.

“OKAY! Time for me to go!” she said firmly, putting up her hands and backing away from the crowd of scientists.

Everyone gave a disappointed groan.

“It’s your wedding eve! You should be having fun, young lady!” a gray-haired professor said, adjusting the tie he’d wrapped across his forehead like a commando headband.

Juniper leaned over his shoulder and pointed at a spot way over Burnet’s head.  
  
“Sammy’s righttttt, you should stay upppp. With uussssss.”

“Fennel, keep an eye on Juniper!”

“Already am! And so is Oak. He’s like her second dad. We’ll make sure she’s safe!”

Oak gave Burnet a cheerful thumbs up as he shoved a huge glass of water into Juniper’s hands.

“YEE-HAW! I LOVE MAH GIRLFRIEND!” she roared before chugging the water like it was another beer.

Burnet shook her head.

“Alright, have fun with that. I need alone time. If something catastrophic happens, just text me.”

“Aww, you sure?”

“Burnneetttt!”

“Stay a bit longer?”

“Wait, where’s my burn it goinnnnn’?”

She waved at the crowd and disappeared into the hotel hallway before anyone else could raise an objection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pfftt party scenes and inebriated characters are kinda fun to write!
> 
> Always remember to be safe if you choose to indulge! Stick with trusted people, and don't have too much! And for the love of god, have a DD or a plan to stay put! 
> 
> Anyway, the next chapters are ones I have been WAITING to post. JUST ITCHING to share. 
> 
> It involves more than the wedding. That's all I'll say. 
> 
> (And speaking about weddings, how about that pokeani wedding episode, huh?)
> 
> Anyway, you'll be getting at least one more chapter for the holidays, so get hyped! It's my present to you!
> 
> See ya again really soon!


	22. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the nervous fiancés try to relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some references to alcohol and drinking. As with the last chapter, please be cautious/aware of that if you choose to read. Thank you!

Burnet sat crossed-legged on her balcony, watching the stars slowly drift over the bay. There was no moon, and not many lights to fade her view of the night sky.

She shifted on her plush seat and took a deep breath of the unusually cool night air.

The ocean spread out before her, reflecting little pinpricks of light as it gently lapped at the sand.

She shook her head a little to try and clear it of the shot she’d taken a half hour earlier, the slight movement dislodging the green umbrella from her ponytail.

_“Blech. Forgot how much those things burn.”_

Kukui’s snapback and her ponytail were both removed to allow for more air circulation, the hair tie snug around her wrist and the hat safe in her lap.

_"Hee. He'll have to fight me to get it back. I should've realized his hat would smell good too."_

Pale hair spread out over the railing as she rested her chin on her crossed arms.

She watched the sky.

It almost felt like she was becoming the stars. Like the distance between her and that bright one to her right didn’t even exist. Like it was infinite and nothing at the same time. Like she was infinitesimal and cosmic.

It felt like the stars were safe in her chest, in her hair, in her eyes.

 _“Well, I am starstuff,”_ she thought to herself, smiling slightly.

She shifted, and a cool piece of metal tapped against her chest, swinging on a chain.

She swallowed, feeling suddenly exposed.

She reached down and gently grabbed the ring.

She held it up to the sky.

That one bright star shone as she gazed at it through the ring, sparkling even more brilliantly from being singled out.

She let the ring drop back to her chest, and finally let herself come to terms with the storm that was boiling in her chest.

_“You’re getting married tomorrow.”_

She forced herself to breathe.

_“You’re getting married to Kukui tomorrow.”_

Deep breaths.

_“You know, Kukui? The guy you crushed on for years and thought was totally out of your league? You’re marrying him.”_

She buried her face in her arms and forced herself to take slow, deep breaths as her head spun.

_“There’s nothing to freak out about. It’s just Kukui. He’s your best friend and he…he loves you.”_

A single tear fell onto her arm and dripped off the balcony to the beach below.

_“…I’m so scared.”_

She let herself sit there with her face in her arms. 

She let the silent nervous tears consume her until there was nothing left but empty sobs.

The stars continued to spin above her, sparkling and shimmering in an etherial dance as she slowly calmed down.

She sniffled and picked up her head, rubbing gently at her cheek with the heel of her hand.

_“Okay, I think I needed that. I’m exhausted now, but I kinda feel better too.”_

She kicked her feet a little.

_“I’m exhausted, but I can tell I won’t be able to sleep. What do I do?”_

She suddenly remembered her room’s massive bathtub.

A woman hidden in an oversized sweatshirt, a white baseball cap, and a pair of sunglasses slipped through the hotel lobby, completely unnoticed by the crowd of revelers at the bar, who were at the moment toasting to her and Kukui.

 

* * *

 

She snuck back into the hotel twenty minutes later with a small paper shopping bag.

Unfortunately, this time she was noticed.

“HEY, IT’S HER!” Juniper’s booming voice shouted across the lobby. “LOOK! IT’S MY BURN IT! BACK FROM DREAM LAND OR WHATEVER!”

Burnet froze with her hand on the doorknob.

“I STILL NEED TO BE ALONE! I’LL SEE YOU IN THE MORNING! BYE!” she yelled to the crowd of rowdy scientists, who had turned eagerly to accost her.

She sprinted for the hallway and disappeared before anyone had a chance to run her down and force her back to the party.

Her room’s door flew open as she dove in and closed it behind her. She sat with her back to it for a moment, catching her breath.

“I hope I didn’t upset anyone,” she breathed, squeezing the bag in her fingers. “Oh well. They should understand. They seemed to be having a great time, anyway.”

She discarded her disguise and took her purchase to the bathroom.

The tub slowly filled with warm water as Burnet watched the sky from the bathroom's huge windows.

Her clothes hit the floor just as the bath was ready.

She shivered as she slipped into the fragrant water.

“Aaaahhhhhhhhh,” she sighed, letting her head fall back.

“Let it go. Let it all go,” she whispered, sinking into the water. “By this time tomorrow, it’ll be all over.”

_“In case you forgot; you’re gonna be married to Kukui.”_

She gulped.

“Relax,” she sighed, closing her eyes as the warmth soothed her tight muscles. “What’s he always saying? It’s just me…”

She started to fall asleep, lulled by the warm water.

 

* * *

 

“Is that him?”

“No.”

“Is that him?”

“No.”

“Is THAT him?”

“NO.”

“I-“

“If you ask me again I’m not buying you any more tea.”

Fennel rolled her eyes and pouted at Juniper, folding her arms with a dramatic “Harrumph!”

“You’ll know when you see him. Trust me. He doe-”

Burnet was barely listening to the conversation, her nose in a book, a pen in her hand, and a tablet, paper coffee mug, and highlighter on the small table next to her chair. She read and took notes as Fennel and Juniper flirted and bantered opposite her in a set of large overstuffed chairs.

She wiggled her hips into her plush seat and sighed.

The old library was blessedly quiet, being close to dinnertime. Burnet jotted a quick note next to a paragraph on spatial anomalies and highlighted a few key phrases as she did her best to focus on the huge block of text.

 _“It’s really good I’m so interested in this subject. If I didn’t find this class so fascinating, there’s no way I’d ever be able to do any of this,”_ she thought to herself, lightly tapping her pen as she started on the next paragraph. _“…and if I hadn’t started taking…ugh.”_

She inwardly cringed at the thought, shivering in a brief moment of discomfort.

_“Stop that. All that matters is you’re doing so much better. You want this. And there’s no shame in getting help. Keep going.”_

“…Alola…anyway, he has long…and…and he doesn’t wear…bahaha, yeah…”

She highlighted a sentence on black holes.

 _“Dimensional door? Reverse wormhole? Spaghetti?”_ she scribbled in the margins.

“Really?..serious?…hehehe…”

“Yeah, actually…is!”

She rolled her eyes playfully and kept reading. She starred an important spacetime diagram and took a moment to make sure the entire page was bookmarked.

“Oh!…he is!”

She continued to the next page, not even looking up.

“Fennel…meet…ui!”

“…meet you!”

“YEAH, WOO! ALOLA, FENNEL! NICE TO MEETCHA TOO! I’VE HEARD TONS ABOUT YA FROM YOUR GIRLFRIEND HERE!”

Burnet jumped a mile and nearly fell out of her chair at the booming voice.

She glanced up wide-eyed, her book falling flat in her lap, incredibly shaken at the interruption in concentration.

A solidly built man in a pair of boardshorts, a long floral over-shirt, a snapback, and long dark hair pulled into a bun stood with his back to her, facing Juniper and Fennel.

“And the other little nerdling in the corner over there? With the nerd books? That’s our roomie, Burnet! She’s also studying dreams, but her focus is on alternate dimensions.”

The man turned towards her.

Burnet looked up at him.

Time seemed to slow down.

Her mouth almost dropped open.

_“Why…why isn’t he wearing a shirt???”_

She involuntarily glanced at his muscular brown chest and up to his sunny face.

He stuck out a hand, grinning at her with a megawatt smile that shone in the warm library light.

_“…holy crap. He’s gorgeous.”_

Her heart skipped a beat.

She cautiously reached up to shake his hand.

His skin was warm and calloused.

And soft.

_“Does he have to have long hair too??? Seriously???”_

She quickly let go when she felt her hand start to sweat.

He immediately let go too, and adjusted his glasses.

“Alola! Nice to meet ya, Burnet! Yeah!”

She grinned up at him.

“Nice to meet you too.”

_“He’s probably a jerk. Or a meathead. Just let it go.”_

“Anyway, this is Kukui, Burnet. My physiology study buddy. He’s kinda jacked, but don’t let that fool you. He’s a huge dork.”

“Hey!”

“Just kidding. But not really. I mean that in a good way. He’s also a giant sweetheart. And kind of a battling genius.”

_“Oh, great.”_

“Aww! I don’t know about that, Junes!”

He sheepishly grinned, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I’ve been epicly destroyed way too many times to be any sorta genius.”

_“I wonder how long his hair is.”_

“You’re well on your way to becoming a leading move expert, chump. Take a compliment.” Juniper teased, poking at his shoulder.

_“I wonder how it looks down.”_

Kukui laughed and swatted at Juniper’s hand gently.

Burnet realized she had been playing with a white curl of hair hanging over her shoulder. She quickly let her hand fall back to her lap.

As Juniper took over the conversation, Burnet breathed a small sigh of relief and tore her eyes away to continue reading.

Something itched up the nape of her neck.

She involuntarily glanced over the book.

She realized Kukui was subtly peeking in her direction from the corner of his eye.

_“Great, my hair’s probably messed up from touching it. Or maybe my pen leaked on my face again. I really need to stop chewing my pens.”_

She looked down and rubbed her wan cheek to check for ink.

Her hand came back clean.

_“Mmm. Guess It’s nothing.”_

She went back to reading.

“What ya studying?” Kukui suddenly asked, leaning over to check out her book.

She vaguely heard Juniper snort with laughter.

“Umm…black holes. In relation to extra-dimensional phenomena,” she said, holding it up cautiously.

“Woah.”

“Yup. It’s fascinating.”

She smiled and slowly hid behind the book again.

Kukui immediately leaned away and rejoined Fennel and Juniper’s conversation.

She halfheartedly read a few more sentences before she felt a pair of eyes on her.

She looked up.

Kukui was staring at her again.

She caught his eye.

He quickly looked away.

 _“Okay, I really must have something on my face,”_ she groaned internally, fighting the urge to run to the bathroom to check a mirror. _“Great.”_

She forced herself to keep reading.

“Hey, I know what might be fun, yeah? Let’s all grab dinner together when we’re done studying!” she heard Kukui eagerly suggest as he finally claimed an empty chair.

“Best idea I’ve heard all evening. I’m getting so hecking hungry.”

“You wanna come too, Fennel? And…”

Burnet didn’t even have to look up to feel his intense eyes on her again.

“Yeah, okay!” she said from behind the book, feeling her face start to turn hot. “Sure!”

“Woo! Yeah, Burnet!” he cheered. “Don’t worry about payin’. You’re a new friend, so I’ll take care of ya! Oh yeah, you too, Fennel! As long as you’re comfortable with that. Don’t worry, I do it for everyone, not just the ladies!”

She glanced up.

He was staring at her excitedly with that sunny grin that immediately made her feel funny from the tips of her twitching toes all the way to the top of her increasingly fuzzy head.

Her stomach started fluttering with butterfree.

_“Oh no. He’s miles out of your league…don’t…”_

Her heart started pounding.

_“Oh no…”_

She gave him a huge shaky grin.

He winked.

_“…I’m screwed.”_

 

* * *

 

“Uh-oh. Guess we’re not the only ones who needed a study break.”

“You guys wanna go somewhere else?”

“Nah. It’ll be the same story everywhere.”

“Let’s stay put, yeah?“

“Sure. A table will open up soon.”

The four students hovered around the bakery carousel, staring at the rotating pies while they made small talk.

Burnet’s eyes followed a huge, tempting slice of chocolate pie as it circled in the shelf.

“Haha, I know what you’re getting for dessert.”

Burnet glanced up at Fennel and grinned, dancing the cabbage patch as she wiggled her hips and watched the pie’s orbit.

A deep laugh boomed over her shoulder.

The dance sheepishly slowed to a stop as Burnet slowly looked up into Kukui’s grinning face.

He raised an eyebrow.

He broke into a whole-hearted, energetic dance, complete with cabbage patching and little hip thrusts.

“Hahaha holy crap,” Burnet choked out, covering her mouth with her hand as she giggled at him.

“Didn’t want ya to boogie down alone, yeah!”

Burnet giggled again.

“That’s considerate.”

“Alright guys, we’re ready!”

They turned to follow their friends.

 

* * *

 

Burnet slid into the booth, opposite of Fennel.

Juniper slid in next to her girlfriend, checking her lightly with her hip.

“SCOOTCH!” she laughed, pushing a wiggling Fennel towards the dark window.

Burnet laughed at her friends before feeling her seat’s cushion depress lightly.

She glanced over to see Kukui settling in next to her.

She flushed lightly and clasped her hands on the table, turning to look at her roommates, who were unfortunately already engrossed with each other.

“So uhh…what are ya getting to drink?” she heard Kukui ask.

It took her a second to realize he was talking to her.

“Oh! Sorry! Umm, I’m…coffee!”

“Do ya like coffee? You had one at the library too!”

“Umm…yeah! I love it! Only way I survive the day. Heh.”

“How do you usually have it?”

“Really sweet with any sort of non-moomoo milk. Slightly lactose intolerant.”

“Cool! Uhh, wait, I’m not saying it’s cool that you’re lactose intolerant. I mean…yeah.”

“I know what you meant! It’s okay!”

Kukui grinned sheepishly.

_“Okay, this is just a normal conversation. Relax.”_

Kukui shifted in his seat.

“…so where ya from?”

“Here. Unova. Outskirts of Nacrene City.”

“Oh! That’s cool! Lotsa art and museums there, yeah?”

“Hee hee. Yup!”

_“…I’m so fricking awkward.”_

She took a deep breath to collect herself.

“You’re from Alola?”

Kukui’s eyes lit up like someone had flipped a switch in his brain.

“Yeah! Born and raised! Have ya ever been?”

“…no! I’m sorry!”

“Oh no, it’s okay! You should totes go if ya get the chance, yeah? It’s the best place in the world!”

_“His eyes are actually sparkling. That’s ridiculous.”_

“It looks really pretty. From the pictures and videos I’ve seen. And stuff,” Burnet said, nervously playing with her discarded straw wrapper.

“It’s the prettiest ever, yeah! Oh! Can I show ya something cool???” Kukui asked eagerly, pointing at the wrapper.

Burnet silently handed it off, curiously watching as he grabbed it and started folding it in an accordion shape.

He held it out with a flourish.

“It’s like a grubbin!”

“A what?…”

“Oh, uhh…yeah, that’s right. You don’t got ‘em in Unova.”

They stared at the wrapper in a painful and awkward silence.

“Err…a caterpie! It’s like a caterpie! If you add water…”

Kukui placed the folded wrapper on his placemat and used his straw to gently transfer a small drop of water to the paper bug.

It slowly deflated and turned to mush.

“Aww, man. I used too much water! Or maybe the paper was too thin!”

He turned to her apologetically and winced.

“It was supposed to crawl. Like a bug type,” he explained in a small voice, grinning sheepishly.

“O-oh.”

“Anyway, uhh…what do ya like to do? When you’re not reading intimidatingly smart books?” he asked, surreptitiously getting rid of the dead paper bug.

“Mmm, I like to read. Stories, not just science stuff. Umm…I like video games. I play the bass. I run. Stuff like that, I guess.”

“Aww, cool! What games ya play?”

“Mostly dorky handheld titles. It’s a good way to pass time when I’m stuck on campus between classes.”

“Truth!”

“Umm…same question? For you?”

“I hit up the gym a ton. Especially to swim cuz it reminds me of home. Battling, obviously. I like building stuff like models. I play guitar. Badly. And…yeah…I have a secret hobby…job…thing. Can’t really talk about it much.”

“Ooo, mysterious!”

He grinned and looked down at his hands, almost shyly.

_“Nah, ridiculous. He’s not shy.”_

Before Burnet could figure out how to break the awkward silence, a waiter arrived to take their orders.

 

* * *

 

“Anyway, do you have a lot of stuff due next week? This weekend’s actually looking pretty light for me. I can probably finish everything tomorrow evening.”

“Nice! It’s light for me too!”

Juniper excitedly drummed her hands on the table.

“Wanna power through everything tomorrow and spend the whole weekend together?”

Fennel’s eyes lit up.

“Yessss!”

“For the first time in forrreeveeerrrrr…”

“Noooo!!!”

Juniper laughed and grabbed her water.

While Fennel checked her email, Juniper glanced at the other side of the table in mid swig.

Her roommate and study buddy were in a deep and slightly awkward conversation about alolan legends.

“…fascinating. That’s so fascinating.”

Burnet’s eyes sparkled at the table as she looked down and rubbed her knuckles in thought.

“That’s exactly the sort of thing I’d like to research someday.”

“When I saw you with that book I knew I had to share the story, yeah? Thought you’d like it!”

Burnet smiled at her hands.

 _“I knew it’d be interesting to see them interact,”_ Juniper thought to herself as she reached for Fennel’s hand under the table. _“They're both such nerds.”_

Burnet glanced at her buzzing phone, which was still on silent mode from the library.

Kukui casually turned to watch her as she checked a text.

His intense gaze blatantly drifted to her face.

He folded his arms on the table and started tracing small circles on his bicep with his thumb.

He hunched his shoulders and smiled shyly.

_“Ooooh? Does he…oh, he does. He totally does.”_

Burnet glanced up and he flinched.

He shook himself off, hurriedly rested his cheek on a knuckle, and shot her a grin in a weak attempt to look casual.

She cocked her eyebrow and awkwardly smiled at him.

_“You ain't slick, Kukui. Hmm. Wonder what roomie thinks.”_

“It was my sister. She wanted to remind me this weekend is my mother’s birthday. And get some advice. Girl problems.”

“Oh! You have a sister? Cool! I got a little brother!”

Burnet nodded.

“Older siblings. We’re both, I mean…uh-huh.”

Kukui grinned at her.

“Shoulda guessed you’re an older sibling. You have that sorta…in-control and altruistic personality, yeah?”

“Aww. You…do too.”

Burnet smiled and turned away to take a sip of her coffee.

Her face was turning red.

_“Oh-ho. You gonna hit that, Burnet?”_

As Kukui put his hands over his head to stretch his back against the booth, Burnet glanced at him.

Her gaze drifted to his bare torso.

Her eyes widened.

She bit her lip.

_“Yup. They’re gonna hook up.”_

 

* * *

 

 The four students walked out into the chilly evening.

A fog had descended over the college town, diffusing the street lights into an etherial glow.

Burnet huddled into her sweatshirt and adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

“We’re gonna stop by the store for some stuff. You wanna come, Burnet?” Juniper asked, grabbing Fennel’s hand.

“No, it’s okay. I’m wiped. Been up since six,” she yawned, shaking her head to wake herself up a bit. “I wanna head straight home. This is the first time I’ll be able to get to bed early this week.”

“Kay! See ya at home unless you’re already asleep!” Juniper said, waving as she and Fennel turned to leave. “Text if you want us to grab you something! Bye, Kukui!”

“Thanks for dinner, dude!” Fennel added.

Burnet waved after them as they disappeared into the thick fog.

“So…” a voice hesitantly said behind her.

She turned and smiled shyly.

“It was nice to meet you. Thanks again for dinner.”

Kukui grinned.

“No problem! I do that every time I meet a new friend! It’s kind of a tradition, yeah?”

“Hee hee! Yeah. Cool!”

They drifted into an awkward silence, nothing but them, the street lights, and the misty street.

“Umm…do you want…company? On your way home?” Kukui asked hesitantly. “I know we just met, so I completely understand if you aren’t comfortable with that…”

Burnet’s stomach flipped again.

“Umm…sure. Okay.”

Kukui nodded hard and smiled.

They set off into the fog, silently walking through the damp, chilly air.

“Err…I’ll be direct. I’m sorry if I seem…weird,” Burnet finally said, playing with the lint in her sweatshirt pocket. “I’m a little awkward sometimes. Especially around new people.”

Kukui laughed.

“Nah, you’ve just seemed a little…err…shy?”

“Ugh. I’m actually not shy, I promise. Well, okay, I’m a little introverted…”

“Oh no, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend ya!”

Burnet winced.

“No, I’m sorry! I’m not offended or upset! I just wanted to apologize for being a giant weirdo.”

Kukui laughed again.

“You’re not the only one who feels awkward and weird sometimes. You’re really…you’re okay!”

She glanced up at him.

The dim lighting made his brown cheeks almost look a bit red.

“You’re fine!” he added hurriedly.

They drifted into another awkward silence.

“Hmm…also, thanks for not making fun of me for infodumping. People sometimes make fun of me when I get too enthusiastic about stuff. Thanks for not doing that?”

Kukui smiled.

“That happens to me too, actually. All the time! Don’t sweat it.”

“About move research?”

“You know it! See, it’s totally cool! I like how enthusiastic ya are. It’s…yeah…”

He trailed off and quietly nodded.

They continued walking through the fog.

(And kept stealing glances at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking).

When they reached Burnet’s apartment, Kukui finally broke the quiet spell.

“Okay! Uhh…it was really nice to meet ya. Have a good night!” he said, grinning down at her.

She smiled and nodded at him.

“Bye, Kukui! Thanks again!”

She waved and turned to enter the building.

In a sudden moment of bravery, Kukui opened his mouth and held up his hand.

“Uhhh, wait! Would ya like to-“

The door slid shut.

He dropped his hand as he watched Burnet disappear up a gray stairwell, her steps muffled by the thick glass of the door’s window.

He turned to leave with a gigantic smile on his face.

_“Wow…what a rad scientist. She’s so smart…and nice…and interesting…and fun…woo. She’s something else.”_

He hid his face in his hands and sighed happily.

_“She’s wicked cute, too.”_

He started walking home in the mist.

His feet felt like they were barely making contact with the damp sidewalk.

_“I hope I get to see her again.”_

 

* * *

  

Kukui flopped into the sand.

He put his hands behind his head, and stared at the stars.

_“Dang. The past two years have been a Hurricane.”_

He sighed.

_“Wonder how she’s doing. Probably wicked nervous. Would be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t nervous too.”_

He wiggled his feet, digging little trenches in the pale sand with his heels.

_“Wish I could cuddle her tonight. Would be bad luck to see her in the morning before the ceremony, though.”_

A wingull cawed in the distance, its cry echoing over the crashing surf.

_“...not that either of us really believe any of that. But I guess it’ll make seeing her more special.”_

A huge smile slowly spread across his face.

_“Wonder what the dress looks like.”_

He covered his face and shivered with a big sigh.

_“Bet she’ll look really cute.”_

He laid on the beach for a while, watching the stars and listening to the soothing ocean.

He let his mind wander.

 

* * *

 

Kukui walked up the library steps, whistling softly to himself as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

_“Phew. Right on time. Woulda been late if the match hadn’t ended early. Even got to sneak in a shower.”_

He strode across the huge entryway, his footsteps echoing in the cavernous hall.

_"...which is hella lucky. I think Juniper's getting annoyed with the excuses. Would be easier if I could just tell her 'Oh, sorry Junes, had to bodyslam a dude through a table. Ya know how it is!'"_

With a sharp squeak of his sneakers he took a right, entering a smaller study area that was cozily sectioned off from the main hallway with several book stacks.

He poked his head into the alcove.

Juniper hadn’t arrived yet, but their usual study table wasn’t empty.

A young woman with a shock of bright white hair and a pile of books was sitting alone, taking notes in a binder.

Kukui stood in the entryway, momentarily stunned.

A wide grin slowly spread across his face.

He practically sprinted across the room to plop into the seat opposite her.

“Oh, alo- I mean, heya, Burnet! You here to study too? Was wondering if I’d see ya again! Juniper not here yet?!” he asked hurriedly, dumping his bag on the table.

A notebook, three thick textbooks, and several pens slid out of his bag and across the smooth wooden table.

Kukui yelped and grabbed the avalanche, stopping it inches away from Burnet’s coffee.

“Shoot! I’m wicked sorry!”

Burnet stared, her pen frozen in mid-sentence, her finger holding a thick book open, her eyes huge.

“…it’s…okay.”

_“First the paper bug, now this. She probably thinks I’m a huge moron. Oh well. Gotta roll with the Power-Up Punches.”_

Kukui gave her a big sheepish grin and got to work cleaning up and making a small study station for himself.

He glanced at her again, but she had already gone back to work, her nose in the textbook.

 _“Woo, she’s got some thick eyelashes,”_ his subconscious whispered. _“And she’s reading that stuff so fast. How???”_

“You’re a fast reader!” he blurted out.

“Oh, ahh…thank you?”

“It’s impressive! That’s all!” he said, grinning at her with his brightest smile.

She blinked.

“Umm…be right back! Need a refill!” she said, grabbing her mug and speed walking out of the room.

Kukui nodded and ducked his head to start reviewing some lecture notes.

_“Reign it in, bro. Don’t scare her off.”_

Just as he was getting into the zone, a shuffling noise told him he wasn’t alone anymore.

He glanced up.

Burnet was back, armed with a caffeine refill and bare arms.

She’d taken off her oversized sweatshirt, which was now tied around her hips.

“Phew. I think they turned up the heat,” she muttered to herself, brushing at a piece of lint on her tank top.

“Y-yeah. I noticed it was getting…err…”

She groaned and stretched her muscular arms over her head, rocking her hips side-to-side.

“…kinda hot.”

Kukui’s pen clattered to the table.

_“Oh no. Oh crap, that was hot, oh no, oh crap, she’s not just cute, she’s hot…”_

He shakily grabbed his pen and pointedly looked down.

_“Don’t be a creeper. Don’t stare.”_

He relaxed when he heard Burnet slide back into her seat.

A minute later, and he was interrupted by an annoyed grunt from across the table.

“Hey umm, Kukui? Can you loan me a pen? Mine just died. I’ll give it right back when we’re done here, I promise!”

He glanced up and nodded hard, reaching across the table to gently place one of his extra pens in Burnet’s hand.

His fingertips brushed her palm as he pulled away.

_“She’s soft…”_

He shakily went back to reading.

After a few minutes, a soft sigh made him glance up again.

Burnet was leaning forward, her elbow on the table and her cheek resting on her hand as she read.

Kukui’s eyes shot to her collarbone.

_“Don’t go lower, don’t go lower…”_

He swallowed.

Burnet glanced up and caught his eye.

They stared across the table at each other, locked in a stalemate of awkwardness.

Her nervous expression slowly morphed into a big grin.

_“…aww shit, that’s the cutest smile I’ve ever seen.”_

Kukui returned the grin.

He glanced back down to continue reading.

He didn’t notice Burnet’s small sigh and shaky smile as she fought to tear her glance away from him.

_“He’s so hot.”_

 

* * *

 

 “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

“To be honest? I’m kinda...devastated right now...”

“Hey. Shhhh. It’ll be okay.”

“It’s hard to think it’ll be okay right now.”

“Shhhh. Let it out. I'm here. If you want, I can even hang out until you feel better.”

"But you have a final..."

"I've got everything I need in my bag. I can just study here."

"But..."

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

“…yeah.”

 

* * *

 

“OWWW!”

“DON’T START WHATCHA CAN’T FINISH, MEATHEAD!!!”

“CRAP, BURNET I’M SERIOUS!! OWW! TIME OUT!”

“Oh no. Oh no, I’m so sorry I-“

“It’s cool, I’ve had worse. Sheesh, you chuck a mean snowball.”

“Here, let me help…hold some snow on it like this…”

“Heh. Feels better already.”

“Good. I’m really sorry, Kukui.”

“About…what? Oh. Uhh…”

“…”

“Don’t mention it.”

 

* * *

  

> Ahh congratulations! That’s so cool!
> 
> YEAH! Thanks!
> 
> Hey, hbu? Do you know yet?
> 
> I’m
> 
> Still waiting to hear back
> 
> You rocked that interview. I know it!
> 
> Thanks
> 
> …what if I didn’t tho?
> 
> The hell ya talking about?
> 
> I'm pretty sure they thought the visoscope was garbage
> 
> WHAAAATTTTT
> 
> Seriously. I'm p sure it lost me the job
> 
> Aww :(
> 
> What if I bomb the next one too? And the next?!
> 
> Then you’ll get up and keep going! Yeah!
> 
> I know you
> 
> And one of my favorite things about you is that if you decide to do something
> 
> Nothing can stop ya
> 
> ~~I love you.~~
> 
> Thanks, Kukui

 

* * *

 

“You can text or call me any time. Let me know how you’re doing, okay?”

“Same, yeah?”

“Okay.”

“…”

“Bye, Kukui."

 

* * *

 

“Burnet! Oh wow, Burnet!!!”

 

* * *

  

“You’re okay with this too?”

“…yes."

 

* * *

 

“I love you.”

 

* * *

 

Burnet jerked awake.

Another beep from her phone made her flail and yelp in alarm, splashing water and melted bath oil on the floor.

She carefully grabbed her phone and tapped it to check the message. 

> <3

Her heart skipped a beat. 

> I love you too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is one of my favorites from this whole story. I loved writing their first meeting. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it! And I hope you all had a good holiday or December or whatever the past few weeks have been for you!
> 
> You know what the next chapter is. 
> 
> https://78.media.tumblr.com/310b1763f1cff8efed0cabb9e997a701/tumblr_p1ogf84WeN1r8sc3ro1_500.jpg
> 
> Get hype.


	23. Mist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding.

_BANG, BANG BANG._

A muffled knock echoed through the otherwise silent room.

A woman with wavy white hair curled up deeper into her soft blankets, a sleep mask on her eyes and an alolan ninetales plushie in a viselike grip.

“WAKEY WAKEY EGGS AND BAKEY, DREAM QUEEN!” a voice shouted.

Burnet choked out a small snore and rolled over.

“BURNET! WAKE UP! COFFEE! BREAKFAST! WEDDING!” the voice shouted even more eagerly as the banging grew a bit louder.

“WE’RE AWAKE EVEN WITH HANGOVERS! YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE!” another voice yelled.

Burnet mumbled to herself and pulled her blanket over her head.

“No.”

“BURNET! KUKUI’S OUT HERE AND OH NO, WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS LAB COAT? IT FELL OFF! HE’S NOW TOTALLY SHIRTLESS AND OH, WHAT’S THAT? HE WANTS TO MAKE OUT WITH YOU?”

“ALSO THERE’S A WORMHOLE! A STABLE ONE! YOU CAN INVESTIGATE IT FOR AS LONG AS YOU WANT!”

“COFFEE! CHOCOLATE! DOCUMENTARIES! DORKY VIDEO GAMES! MANTINE SURFING! PSYCHIC TYPES! EVERYTHING BURNET LIKES IS OUT HERE!”

“Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.”

“Okay, that does it.”

A few minutes later, Burnet’s phone started ringing under her pillow.

She answered it without taking off her mask.

“Dimensional Lab. Professor Burnet speaking,” she mumbled. “How may I help you?”

“Yeah, I’d like to report an anomaly! See, there’s this cutie who won’t wake up for her wedding…”

_Wedding?_

_Wedding..._

**_WEDDING._ **

She shot up.

“Umm, I’m, what…” she choked, ripping off the mask to reveal a murky, drizzly morning outside of her hotel room’s picture windows.

The light patter of rain mixed with the quiet laughter from behind her door.

The voice on the phone started laughing too.

“Hanging in there, honey?” Kukui asked softly, the smile on his face audible in his voice.

“Umm…yeah,” Burnet said as she curled her legs under her butt, her weight sinking into the soft bed. “Sorry. I guess I answered in my sleep.”

“D’awww!”

“Hee.”

“Don’t be nervous. I mean, okay. That’s unfair. I’m freakin’ out right now. In a good way, though.”

He laughed.

“Can’t wait to see ya.”

“I…can’t wait to see you, too,” Burnet laughed as her shoulders slowly loosened.

“Err…it’s raining,” she added.

“Yeah! You’re not worried about that, right?”

“Hee hee. Don’t people say it’s good luck to have rain on a wedding?”

“That’s exactly what Olivia said five minutes ago.”

“Pretty sure people say that to make couples feel better.”

“Eh, it’s not pouring. And it ain’t supposed to last into the afternoon, yeah?”

“Nope. I think we’ll be okay.”

"We're not gonna get soaked?" 

"I don't think so." 

"Alright! I'm gonna put my trust in the sexy scientist who researched the Forces of Nature. She knows what's up when it comes to the weather, yeah!" 

Burnet giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Weather's just a side interest." 

Kukui laughed. 

“Okay! We’re getting breakfast across town to avoid running into you guys. Why don’t you find breakfast too. You’ll feel better.” 

“Okay.”

“Have a good morning. Be sure to eat. I’ll see you soon, I guess…real soon,” Kukui laughed, the nerves in his voice making it crack slightly. “Bye, honey!”

“…bye, darling!”

He hung up, but not before making kissy noises at her through the phone.

Burnet blushed and covered her face, putting the phone down. She could hear voices through the door, still in conversation

“I think that worked. I hear her talking. Give her a sec to talk to her fiancé and wake up!”

“Ugh! I’m starving, though.”

“Give her a second! She’s probably so nervous!”

“…ugh, you’re right.”

Burnet smiled, ungracefully rolled out of bed, and shuffled to the door to open it.

Fennel and Juniper practically fell into the doorway in their eagerness to tackle her with hugs.

“Breakfast!!!!” Juniper pleaded, bending over to put her hands on Burnet’s shoulders. “Please. Partied too hard. So hungry.”

Burnet nodded, starting to feel hungry herself.

“Agreed. Lemme get dressed.”

She pulled on some comfortable clothes as Juniper and Fennel excitedly paced around her room.

“Okay, don’t worry. I’m on everything schedule-wise,” Fennel announced, opening her phone and swiping to a text document. “We’ve got plenty of time before we need to be anywhere, so no rush.”

“Yup! The goal of this morning is to stay as nice and calm and relaxed and chill as possible,” Juniper said, nodding hard.

Burnet turned towards them, dressed comfortably in leggings and a long button up shirt with a pair of sunglasses and her favorite old bag.

She pulled her shades down to fix her old friends in a confident stare.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

 

* * *

 

 The rest of the morning passed in a blur.

Before Burnet knew it, breakfast was finished, and she was in a chair, having her hair done.

Then a friendly lady who wouldn’t stop talking was doing her makeup.

Then she, Fennel, Juniper, and her sister piled into a limo.

Then her sister was zipping up the back of her dress.

Juniper took one look at her and burst into tears.

And then she had flowers shoved into her hand. Her sister was frantically fixing her lip gloss while Fennel was hissing for them to hurry.

And then she was standing on the beach, the sand brushing against her dress and sandals, the alolan sea breeze blowing her layered dress and curled hair, her shaky hands holding a gorgeous bouquet as Fennel purposefully marched down the aisle in front of her, accompanied by an excited Rocky.

Then she was standing alone, the sand at her feet, the light mist of the ocean cooling her face, the smiles of the crowd beaming at her as she paused at the foot of the aisle.

She glanced up, and one bright, shining megawatt grin drowned everything else out, like the sun eclipsing the stars. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHH it feels amazing to update again!!!
> 
> Thanks so much for the kudos and encouraging comments on my other DreamZ stuff, guys. I'm glad to share something that (hopefully) makes you happy and brightens your day!
> 
> Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I'll see you again soon! 
> 
> *Finger guns!*
> 
> -Afina


	24. Lip Gloss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> >:)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of the chapter has a quick suggestive flirty exchange. Nothing above pg13, but just wanted to mention it so nobody's blindsided!

Burnet vaguely registered music. Hala talking. Herself and Kukui repeating some things after him.

And then she pulled a ring from a hidden pocket in her dress. She shakily slid it onto Kukui’s finger.

He choked out a sob.

And then Hala was saying something else, and pausing meaningfully, raising his bushy eyebrows at them.

Burnet suddenly remembered the rehearsal the night before, and frantically reached up on her tip toes to pull a gobsmacked Kukui in for a kiss.

She heard the crowd absolutely lose it behind her when he instinctively grabbed her and pulled her in to kiss her deeper.

(She also heard Olivia and Juniper burst into tears).

Then she was running back down the aisle, dragging a stunned Kukui behind her, frantic to get out of the limelight as soon as possible.

They fell into the limo, panting.

They slowly looked up into each other’s eyes across their plush red seats.

“What…what just happened?” Burnet whispered, swallowing as they locked eyes.

Kukui could only stare at her.

“You…the dress shows a lot more skin than I was expecting,” he finally said, reaching up to touch the beading. “It’s really cool.”

He brushed her cheek with his thumb.

“You look so cute,” he added timidly.

Burnet shyly grinned and looked down at her dusty sandals.

“You look really cute too,” she said to her shoes, gently scuffing one against the floor. “Nice lip gloss.”

Kukui rubbed at his lips and choked out a small laugh.

“I think it clashes on me, yeah? It looks better on you.”

He glanced down at his left hand and inhaled.

“You’re…we’re…I’m your husband,” he said, sliding his hand behind her head, careful to not disturb the curls in her hair.

She shivered at his touch.

“…uh-huh. We’re married.”

“Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Still nervous?”

“Uh-huh.”

“A little shy?”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s okay. Me too.”

He pulled her in for a hug.

“You make it better, though. You always make it better. Just by being you,” he whispered into her hair.

“You…do too,” she whispered into his shoulder, the scent of his hair and his warm skin immediately soothing her.

She sighed and melted against his warm body.

She felt him suddenly shake as he started to happily cry into her hair.

“I love you so much,” he sobbed.

She pulled him in tighter.

 

* * *

 

 “Hey. This thing on?”

Juniper tapped the mic again as she patiently waited for the energetic crowd to quiet down.

“Hi. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Professor Aurea Juniper, one of Burnet and Kukui’s old college buddies from Unova!”

She paused at the polite applause and glanced at the couple, who were lounging at the head table, enjoying some snacks.

“I’m going to keep this toast short and sweet. But basically…It cannot be overstated how perfect they are together.”

The sardonic expression on her face morphed into a devious grin.

“…before they got together, they had the WORST crushes on each other. For years.”

“Oh no,” burnet whispered.

Kukui turned to fix his wife with a gleeful smile.

“I’ve got all sorts of great stories of how disgusting it was. When they first met? Holy Arceus.” Juniper continued, absentmindedly swirling her champagne glass. “It was adorable. And FRUSTRATING TO WATCH.”

She turned to glance at Burnet, who was slowly melting into a pile of puffy white fabric.

“No offense. But you were a) obvious and b) oblivious!” Juniper said. “Let me put down my glass and demonstrate Burnet’s face when she met Kukui for the first time. Because I was there, and it’s burned into my memory.”

She leaned forward and let her eyes slowly widen as she bit her lip.

"I was there too! It's true!" Fennel shouted over the laughing crowd.

Burnet’s flaming red face was now buried in her tan arms.

“And Kukui! You weren’t any better, bud. I caught all those times you checked her out.”

Juniper changed her expression fast as lightning, with her arms folded and her thumb rubbing circles on her forearm as she shot the crowd an intense set of bedroom eyes.

“They had such. Bad. Crushes,” Juniper said, picking her glass back up. “And neither of them thought it was mutual. But do you know what they did? They became each other’s best friend. No strings attached. Which goes to show how much love and respect they have for each other. They were just happy to be in each other’s lives.”

She paused and glanced at her friends again.

“Well, guess what, guys?”

Her face softened.

“…it WAS mutual. You were in love with each other the whole time. You dummies.”

She raised her glass.

“Here’s to my old roommate and old study buddy. Let’s toast to the silly scientists who finally figured it out.”

The entire crowd raised their glasses as the married couple silently found each other's hands under the table.

 

* * *

 

 Some time after everyone had left their meals for the dance floor, a man with messy white hair was sitting alone at a table, grumpily folding some napkins into what appeared to be messy origami. Another man with tired eyes, gray hair, and a meowth was sitting at a table nearby, very clearly keeping an eye on the napkin vandal.

Kukui, who had been hovering at another table with Burnet and the two Oaks, glanced over and winced.

“Err let’s…go over here and-“

“Well, lookie here! It’s my favorite fellow reject!”

The man smirked and held up a champagne glass.

“Cheers, Professor Hot Shot!”

Kukui sighed.

He caught Burnet’s eye and grimaced at her before turning to address the man with a huge smile.

“Heya, Guzma. Glad you could make it, yeah!”

“Wouldn’t miss the chance to show up to your wedding and mess things up. Feast your eyes on what I did to all these napkins.”

“Woo, that’s great, cousin! Is that…”

“I learned how to make paper wimpods. I’m gonna turn all your napkins into wimpods. How do ya feel about that?”

“Sounds like a great use of your time! Anyway, we gotta-“

“All the napkins will be wimpods! At this whole cruddy wedding! Don’t say I never did nothing for ya, prof.”

“That’s amazing! You’re doing a great job, buddy! Woo!”

Kukui caught Burnet’s eye.

He muttered through his huge smile.

“Wimpods…”

Burnet bit her lower lip to keep from laughing.

“Anyway! This is my wife, Professor Burnet!” Kukui said cheerfully, taking a step back to present her with a wide double-handed flourish. “Burnet, meet Guzma!”

“Hi,” she finally said, waving and smiling as she grabbed for Kukui’s hand. “Thank you for coming. And for…err…the decorative improvements?”

Guzma glared at her.

He slowly reached into his hair, rustling it with both hands.

A small fuzzy cutiefly buzzed out of his wild hair to hover over his shoulder.

“Heya Mrs. Professor Hotshot. How do ya feel about bug types?”

Burnet’s expression froze in a huge smile.

Kukui felt her hand twitch.

“They’re…cute,” she laughed, squeezing Kukui’s hand.

“Just cute? That didn’t sound very convincing. Bug types are the best. What type do ya use, then?”

“I…don’t really…”

“She’d have a variety, but she’d definitely have a few psychic types. If she built a team,” Kukui butted in. “At least that’d be my educated guess.”

Guzma bellowed in laughter.

“Psychic! I’d be able to give ya a good beat down with my bugs! Ahahahaha!”

Burnet slowly turned to give Kukui a look that clearly said “Is this dude serious?”

“Anyway! Great to see ya! Keep up the good work, cousin!” Kukui said as he gently nudged Burnet.

“Later, Mr. and Mrs. Professor Hotshot.” 

When they were safely out of earshot, Burnet cocked her head.

“Why…did he immediately want to fight me?”

Kukui laughed, shaking his head.

“Dude’s had an angry streak a mile wide since we were kids. Don’t take it personally. He wants to fight literally everyone.”

He grimaced, watching his childhood acquaintance grumpily add soldiers to the wimpod army.

“He…didn’t have a great home life. And he has a lotta trouble letting things go. I’m worried he’s gonna go off the deep end someday and do something really…dumb.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t mean to sound like I’m making fun of him, yeah? Deep down the dude’s not that bad of a guy. And he’s got amazing potential if he’d clean up his act. But…I dunno. He’s been recruiting more and more kids into that little skull club thingy. Nanu’s getting super concerned.”

“Wait…Skull?”

Burnet glanced at the dance floor, where Ash was currently busting some serious moves with her wobbuffet.

“Yup.”

Burnet’s eyes widened.

“Oh. Umm…I wonder if she’s seen him.”

“Probably. Wouldn’t worry about it too much with Nanu here, yeah? Plus she won’t admit it, but I think she really loves working for ya.”

“Aww. I hope. She’s a really good kid. I love her to death.”

The newlyweds watched Ash let loose for a moment, matching fond grins on their faces.

Burnet’s eyes shot to another woman on the dance floor, who was slowly boogieing her way to the ex-Skull member’s dance space.

Ash glanced up to see Olivia cheerfully dancing at her.

She glared at the Kahuna and mashed-potato’d away, her wobbuffet sticking out his tongue as they slowly retreated.

Burnet hid a laugh behind her hand.

The professors' comfortable silence was interrupted by Molayne, who had decided to check on them.

“Not overwhelmed? Still doing okay?” he asked, smiling at them as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah!” Kukui and Burnet said in unison.

They turned and lightly punched each other in the arm in perfect sync.

“Jinx!”  
“Jinx!”

“Gotcha! I won the next shoulder rub!”

“Naw, I was faster! Back me up here, cousin!”

Molayne silently held up his hands and shook his head in the universal gesture of “Not getting in the middle of this one!”

Burnet giggled.

“Fine. It was too close to call. We’ll trade.”

They shared a quick nod and fistbump.

Molayne smiled at them, his eyes softening behind his thick glasses.

“Gosh, you two are cute. Anyway…”

He trailed off. 

"...err. What the heck is that guy doing with those napkins?” 

Kukui burst out laughing.

“Ya don’t recognize him?”

The professor twisted his face into a frown, making a theatrically grumpy expression.

“Blah, blah, destruction in human form. It’s ya boy!” he said in a gravelly voice, hunching over and putting his hands on his hips.

Molayne put his hand on Kukui’s shoulder.

“Oh. Oh shoot, really?”

He glanced at the man again.

“Want me to…keep an eye on him? You know. To make sure he doesn’t try anything?”

Kukui laughed.

“I think it'll be okay. Nanu’s got it under control.”

“…I’ll help keep an eye on him.”

Molayne patted Kukui on the shoulder and slouched across the garden to plop down in the seat next to Guzma.

Guzma looked up at the slightly taller man with a suspicious expression.

Molayne gave him a big smile.

 

* * *

 

“Status report, Musharna?”

“Elm is crying alone on the beach.”

“Aww crap! Should someone check on him?”

“I think he’ll be okay. Apparently he misses his wife? She got sick at the last minute and couldn’t come. I think he’s gonna call her.”

Juniper sighed at Fennel and gave her a worried look.

“Aww, that really sucks. Anything else?”

“Lycanroc’s tearing it up on the dance floor. She’s having a great time,” Fennel added.

“Cool…”

“And there’s some guy stealing napkins to do really bad origami? But Skarmory Two is following him around with a really goofy smile, so I think he has it under control?”

“Excellent. Are Swablu and Rockruff doing okay?”

“They’ve been floating around talking to people. I think Swablu’s getting a tiny bit tired from all the attention.”

“Maybe we should help them get outta here.”

“Maybe in a bit, yes!”

Juniper sighed and rested her head on Fennel’s shoulder.

“This has been a lot of fun. Alola’s been great,” Juniper said after a long, comfortable silence. 

She kissed Fennel on the cheek.

“Spending time with you has been great too. I’ve missed you.” 

“You’re doing a wonderful job as regional prof. Don’t worry. Phase four of my experiment should be done in a month or so. Then I can move in with you!”

Juniper sighed happily.

She glanced up at the ocean and clear blue sky.

She glanced back at Fennel.

_“Aww. Her eyes are even bluer than the water.”_

Her chest felt pleasantly warm…

…and the ring in her pocket felt like it weighed a million pounds.

“…alright.”

 

* * *

 

_WHUMP._

Burnet ungracefully crashed into a chair, carefully maneuvering her dress to avoid crushing or wrinkling it.

Her shoulders lowered as she let out a relieved sigh and kicked her feet a bit.

_“Glad I picked low heels. At least they’re comfy.”_

Light footsteps and a small cough made her glance up curiously.

Her stomach iced up.

A tall woman with waist length blonde hair and an elegant black outfit was hovering over her, gently coughing again to get her attention.

“Hello,” Burnet said, cautiously staring up at the woman.

“Hi! Err…I’m not sure if you…”

The woman shook herself off and sat in the empty seat next to the bride, crossing her long legs as she settled in.

After a deep breath, she tried again.

“Thank you for the invitation. The wedding was lovely,” she said, staring down at her black high heels. “My name’s Cynthia. I know Kukui, but I don’t think the two of us have formally met.”

_“Yeah, you know Kukui alright.”_

_“STOP IT. Be nice!”_

Burnet nodded, fighting every urge to make a stank face. She held out her hand and gave Cynthia a small polite smile.

“Professor Burnet. Obviously. Thank you for coming,” she said, taking the woman’s warm hand.

She wondered if it was her imagination, but Cynthia’s hand seemed to shake slightly as she let go.

“Anyway…”

Cynthia looked away, towards the ocean.

“It’s such a pleasure to meet you,” she blurted out.

_“Huh???"_

“Oh…thank you. It's nice to meet you too.”

She glanced at Cynthia’s face.

It was turning a little red.

“Sorry if that was awkward, I’ve just…I don’t know if you know, but I have had some…run-ins with alternate dimensions. Afterwards, I read a few papers to try and understand what I’d experienced.”

She took a deep breath.

“Many of them were yours. Quite a bit of the reading was tough to get through. But not yours. Your papers were especially helpful. They were relatively easy for a layperson to understand. And really interesting. Your writing’s fantastic. And you really know your stuff.”

She laughed shyly.

“Sorry. I’m trying to keep the fangirling in check.”

Burnet silently stared at her, not sure what to say.

“Aww…thank you. That’s sweet,” she finally said. “If you ever have questions or want me to explain anything, I’d be happy to…do that?”

Cynthia inhaled and gave her a huge smile.

“I…think I might.”

Burnet wrestled with herself before adding “Err. And I might have some questions for you too. I’d love to know what you experienced. In the Distortion World, I mean. And also…”

She smiled shyly.

“I’ve watched some of your matches. You’re one of the best trainers I’ve ever seen. I’ve been thinking of picking up battling, so if you have any tips for an adult newbie who has no idea what she's doing…”

She trailed off at the stunned looked on Cynthia’s face.

“Absolutely, I’d love to talk. Any time. Seriously, text me.”

Burnet smiled and held out her hand.

“Phone?”

Cynthia shakily placed her cell in Burnet’s open palm.

A moment later Burnet handed it back, a text message already beeping in her bag.

Lightning fast, Cynthia saved the contact info.

“Oh my gosh. Thank you,” she said, nervously tapping her foot and staring at the ocean again.

“No problem!”

Burnet paused.

Taking the opportunity to stare for a second, she took in her new acquaintance.

_“Stupid long legs and stupid pretty hair and stupid impeccable sense of style and stupid ability to handle high heels and stupid champion level battling skills and stupid RRGGHH.”_

_“She’s been really nice. Instead of acting like an insecure jealous brat, why don’t you just compliment her again?”_

_“Fine. That’s what a good person would do.”_

“I love your outfit, by the way. And your hair’s really pretty.”

Cynthia gulped.

“Thank you so much. It was great to meet you. Congratulations again! CALL ME,” she blurted out before excusing herself to escape across the courtyard, grab a drink, and attack the hors d’oeuvres table.

She sighed under her breath, a glass of champagne and a huge bowl of ice cream in her hands.

“Kukui’s such a lucky guy,” she muttered under her breath, taking a small sip of her bubbly drink.  
  
Burnet stared after her, not quite sure what had just happened.

 

* * *

  

Kukui was in mid conversation with Olivia when someone lightly tapped his shoulder.

“If one more person tries to hug me I’m gonna flip out,” Burnet whispered into his ear.

Kukui laughed and nodded at Olivia before hunching down slightly to talk to Burnet.

“Okay! How do you wanna fix that?” he whispered, sliding his hand onto the small of her back.

She flinched.

“Oh! Sorry, didn’t mean to do that…”

He gingerly dropped his hand.

“No, no, you touching me is always okay. It’s just…lots of people I hardly know are grabbing me, and I’m starting to get kinda uncomfortable.”

“Ahh. My family, right? Sorry, they’re pretty touchy-feely.”

“It’s okay. I understand, and I was nice about it! But it’s overwhelming.”  
  
“I can put a “Do not touch” sign on your back!”

“Haaaa.”

“Or! You can sing the don’t touch me song!”

“Oh no…”

Kukui started beatboxing.

“Woah! Hey! Don’t touch me!”

Burnet started cracking up.

Kukui leaned in closer.

“Okay, to be real. We’ve been here for a while. Only one more hour until everyone has to leave.”

“Wow, really? I guess I didn’t realize how late it's getting.” 

Kukui shyly grinned, put his hand on the small of her back and leaned in even closer, until he was almost touching her ear with his lips.

“Wanna get outa here, honey?”

Burnet flushed and muffled a giggle behind her hand.

She nodded, subconsciously leaning against his warm body.

“Yeah? Whatcha wanna do?”

She playfully narrowed her eyes at him.

“Stop it!”

“I don’t get it. What do ya want me to stop?”

“You’re trying to fluster me.”

"Is it workin’?”

“Yes. But I think you’ve forgotten who usually wins these exchanges,” she purred.

She faintly heard her husband gulp quietly.

“What? Did you really want to see my new underwear that badly?” she whispered into his ear.

“You have new…”

“Duh! It’s really cute and comfy.”

Kukui huffed.

He reached out to grab her hand.

“Let’s start saying goodbye to everyone. It might take a while.”

He leaned in closer.

“And yeah, I can't even handle how badly I wanna see that,” he breathed into her hair, his voice cracking with barely controlled restraint.

With a synchronized frantic lunge they leaped from their seats and started racing around to say goodbye to their guests, the late afternoon sun casting a golden light over the entire party. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, hopefully this lived up to expectations! At least that's what my wedding experience was like. It's all a blur. Everything's overwhelming. Everyone wants to talk to you at the same time. Guzma is there. 
> 
> Next chapter is gonna be the last before the epilogue. 
> 
> ...and it'll be one of those chapters that Rocky manages to not ruin. Oh boy. 
> 
> Anyway, have a great weekend, guys! Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Tag yourself, I'm Mallow. 
> 
> Anyway! *Whips off sunglasses* Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me. 
> 
> Unlike my first story, this one isn't mostly written already. I don't even know where this is going yet. It'll be longer between updates as a result. Maybe weekly or biweekly? I'm not sure.
> 
> This thing might be long and epic, or it might be short and sweet and only a few chapters long. I dunno! I'm doing it for fun, so whatever happens, happens! I just hope you enjoy the results!
> 
> And away we go!


End file.
